


The Sun Will Rise Again

by Salty_Shaggy



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Aburame Shino, BAMF Nara Shikamaru, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Bottom Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara Needs a Hug (Naruto), Genjutsu Naruto, M/M, OOC Naruto, Smart Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto Needs a Hug, Uzumaki Naruto-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:48:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 57,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24762604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salty_Shaggy/pseuds/Salty_Shaggy
Summary: Naruto leaves the orphanage for the first time at the age of seven in worse condition than anyone thought possible. Left with broken tenketsus and a weakened body, Hiruzen doubted that shinobi life was a real option. Yet there he was, standing side-by-side with Shikamaru and Shino as an equal.orA genjutsu wielding Naruto is placed on a team with Shikamaru and Shino
Relationships: Aburame Shino & Nara Shikamaru & Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara & Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 153
Kudos: 1116





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the first few chapters a long time ago and I just recently found it again (the first chapter may be kind of rough). I don't remember the old premise all too well, just that what I ultimately came up with is rather different.
> 
> I mention this because I was initially inspired by a different femNaru fanfic. I didn't end up finishing it so I doubt our works are that similar, and again, I read it years ago. Still, though, if anyone recognizes the fanfic I'm talking about, it'd be nice to know the name so I could give credit.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy it.

A streak of gold shone into my little box. The box was small with four simple wooden walls. The room was a plain brown, as none of the walls had been painted. The wood had started to splinter from age. My box was dangerous. My hands often scratched from the panel. Not that it mattered. It just blended in with the rest of my body. 

This was the little box I have lived in my whole life. I don’t remember ever being anywhere else. The box had cracks that allowed me to peer out sometimes. In the floor, I could see part of a room. It had a few chairs and tables. Children would always come in there at a certain time when the sun was at its highest. I would always watch them. I had to, after all, I wanted to learn. This is what I overheard was ‘classroom’ in which children learned. I wasn’t allowed in there, I wasn’t allowed anywhere. The next crack opened up to what I learned was ‘outside.’ I saw children playing there with adults. There was a tree and a few bushes with flowering plants called roses. The children were always told to watch themselves or they would be pricked.

This was how I learned. I observed, watched, and listened. I could even understand them. I had trouble speaking but I was able to hold discussions with the walls and practice. Then when I found a colonizing group of birds right next to the ‘window’ I would whisper with them. Though I had to be quiet or the matron would come. I liked the matron. She was beautiful with short brown hair and light olive eyes. Unlike myself, I was hideous. I knew she didn’t love me, but she was the only one who cared for me and saw. She was the only one who knew I existed.

The matron was almost like a mother. She fed me every few days with the leftovers. Then every week she would wash me in the little bucket at the corner of my room. My baths would leave my skin red and raw, but clean.

I was small enough to fit in the bucket. I was very small. I saw the other kids and knew I was different. I had all my bones showing under my skin which I saw they didn’t. I was ugly. My hair was always knotted down to my hips while my skin was a pasty pale that made me look sick. I have never seen my face before, but I knew it was just as ugly as the rest of me. Because I was a monster. 

A monster, that was the one thing I was most sure about. I learned that the same day I found out the matron was in fact not my mother. When I was two I had accidentally called her that, my mother. She grew madder than I had ever seen. I always heard the resentment in her voice and saw the coldness in her eyes. Though that day, she started screaming. She slapped me and it stung. She had hurt me before, but never like this. That was when she first told me who I was. A monster, a demon. She spat in my face of how I killed her son. That was me, I was not her son, no, I was the beast that killed him. The matron didn’t feed me for a few days after.

I heard a loud banging sound downstairs, I looked down into the floor but I couldn’t see the door it came from. I looked to a different crack, there was nothing there but I could hear the voices much better.

“Hokage-Sama, you’re here!”

“What an honor it is to see you!”

Two females spoke in loud clear voices. I had heard of this ‘Hokage’, he led the village outside of my box, the people respected him. The children learned about him in the classroom. I briefly saw a picture of him at one point. 

“I did not receive a report on Naruto last month.”

Naruto … I believe that was my name, I think I was called that by my previous matron. I don’t remember her much, just that she was very nice, maybe she even loved me… but she too must have realized I was a monster because she stopped coming one day. 

“Oh… we’re so sorry we must have forgotten to send it, I’ll go retrieve it,” There was some sort of disappointment in her voice. 

“After that, you can meet the children playing outside right now!” The other female was still very enthusiastic. 

“Is Naruto out there?”

“No Hokage-Sama, he’s napping right now, we have different schedules for children to make room.”

“Go wake him up.”

“I-I don't think that’s a good idea Hokage-Sama!”

“Then I’ll wait for him to wake up.”

“Hokage-Sama plea-” 

I heard a sound, I’m not sure what it was but the woman stopped speaking at the sound.

“Monkey, please.”

“Yes, Hokage-Sama.”

I believe I heard about monkeys, they’re animals that live in the jungle. But I know monkeys don’t talk. I wonder who he’s talking to. I heard walking and quickly lunged away from the crack. The matron would be very upset if she learned what I was doing. The person coming was not the matron, unlike her heavy long steps, these steps were lighter and more erratic. Nonetheless, if the matron heard about my actions she would be mad. 

The door opens and instead of the pretty matron was a monkey. Just like the Hokage said. But it wasn’t a real monkey, as I am sure monkeys don’t talk. This was a human wearing a monkey mask. It was a little frightening, I’ve never seen such a phenomenon. The person, I can now identify as a male, gasped, I’m not sure at what. Maybe he also knows I’m a monster. He called something but I didn’t really catch it. I heard more footsteps, three more people I believe. They showed up seconds later, and they too gasped. I could recognize the Hokage in the middle. I stayed quiet because the matron told me not to speak unless told to. 

“Na- Naruto?” The Hokage asked. I looked at him, I think he’s talking to me but I don’t know what to say. I stayed quiet. I heard a sob but I don’t know why or from who. 

“What are you waiting for, get him to the hospital!” The Hokage demanded. A person in a bird mask approached me.

“Can I touch you?” This was also a man. 

“... Yes,” Although I’m not sure why someone would want to touch me. But when the matron touched me it felt nice, even if I knew she didn’t love me, I felt cared for.

The man grabbed me and did something with his hand, I think it was jutsu, then we appeared somewhere different, outside of my box, in a bigger nicer white box. This was my first time outside of my box and I didn’t like it.

I always wished to one day be able to feel the sun on my skin and smell the flowers myself, but I was not prepared. These were strangers. And the man did not tell me he would be taking me anywhere. It was happening too fast, I was not prepared.

“Please take me back,” I knew I would get punished for speaking but I wanted to go back.

“Please,” I said when he said nothing. There was too much going on, I wasn’t safe. 

“Please!” my body started convulsing in ways I didn't think I physically could anymore, this was the first I started crying in a long time. I couldn’t stop. I heard a small sound, I think it was a whispered “sorry” before everything was black.   
Hiruzen looked at the pitiful child. How could he have not noticed what was happening? How did it take him so long to do anything? Hiruzen sighed at his own stupidity. The last time he’d seen the boy was when he was only some 7 or 8 months old. Naruto was incredibly pale as if he’d never seen the sun, which at this point Hiruzen thought was a possibility. He was small for age and incredibly frail. His blonde hair was long and much lighter than what it was last time he saw it. There were cuts and bruises everywhere and his clothes were barely any use. The only thing that stayed the same were his large gorgeous eyes.

\---

When Hiruzen first saw the child he thought Naruto would be an exact physical replica of Minato, but now he noticed he was wrong. Naruto had a small button nose, large sharp eyes with long eyelashes, high cheekbones, and a round face. His hair was silky and straight like Kushina’s too. He was much more beautiful than handsome. The only similarity between Naruto and Minato was the blonde hair and blues eyes. The thing that was entirely unique so far was the soft melodious voice he had. His mother was loud and clear while his father was confident and strong. 

Hiruzen gripped the sleeping boy's hand, what would be different if he had just been there? Simply checked on him, or cared for him, or, or… it was useless to wonder now.

“I’m so sorry.” 

\---

I woke up. Everything was warm and soft unlike usual. I was in the same box as before, white and pristine. I was alone. I’m not as scared as I was before. It was just another room, they would most likely keep me in here like before. It was nicer, but there were no cracks I could learn from or any birds or caterpillars I could talk with. The door opened and the Hokage came in. He smiled, I was never smiled at before. 

“Are you okay now?”

I felt a burning sensation and felt my face turn red, I don’t know why but I felt strange. I think I was embarrassed, like those kids outside who were caught doing something bad by the matrons. He chuckled, and I remembered I needed to answer.

“... Yes.” He still smiled

“I brought you some clothes, once you finish changing knock on the door and I’ll come to get you.” He left before I could say anything. The clothes were much nicer than what I had. They were black pants and shoes with a strange orange top and a rope. I put the pants on but I didn’t know what to do with the top half. I looked at the door and decided against knocking. After a few minutes, the Hokage came back inside on his own.

“What’s wrong?”

“I- I don’t know h-how… “ I pointed at the top and he laughed. I felt the burning again. He motioned me to him and I went. He slid on the top and proceeded to fold over the cloth and tie it with the rope.

“It’s called kimono, and the tie is an obi.”

“Thank you.” He smiled again and it made me feel warm. 

“We’re going to your new home.”

I think I’ve heard children mention that before as they were adopted by nice-looking adults. But I wasn’t sure as to what that referred to. 

“A home?”  
  
The Hokage looked at me for a few seconds before tapping his chin in thought, “It’s a place where you sleep, eat, and live. It’s a place where you feel safe and be with the people you care for.”

I had never heard of such a place before… but it sounded nice, “I’ve never had a home…”

The Hokage smiled but it seemed sad and bittersweet, “I know.”

We exited the white building the Hokage told me was called a hospital. I have heard of hospitals but I’ve never seen one. Outside the hospital was a street with people walking down it yelling at each other. It looked just like the one I could see from my box. 

But there were so many people.

They stopped to look at the Hokage, they looked like they… respected him. From what I read he was very powerful. I can’t imagine why he would want to be near me. I was a monster. If people saw him next to me… they might think he’s a monster too. The matron told me I would corrupt others if I played with them.

I tried to hide under his billowing cloak, maybe that would make the stares go away.

I always imagined this day, where I would walk outside with everyone else. But now they were all staring at me. I didn’t like it. I didn’t feel like everyone else. Maybe it’s because I’m ugly just like the matron told me. 

Maybe they knew I was a monster. That I killed someone. I felt my face burn red again but I don’t think it’s embarrassment.

Shame. That’s what it is. 

I felt the Hokage squeeze my hand and he started walking faster. I stumbled trying to keep up but in a few seconds, the streets cleared of screaming people. 

He showed me to a small building made out of groups of rooms.

“This is the apartment complex you will be staying in… I’m sorry it’s not too big, I can only take out so much from the orphan fund.” 

It was much bigger than my box. The streets were dirtier and not many people were around like at my box, but it was much better. 

“Th-thank you…”  
The Hokage smiled, “My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen, but,” He leaned down, “ just for you, I’ll let you call me Jiji.”

I never thought I would have a family… I felt strange, having someone like that. I decided to just nod. The Hokage handed me a pair of keys.

“There’s some food inside there for you, be careful, and if you ever need to visit I’ll be in that building,” He pointed to a tall dome-shaped building that stood above all the other buildings, “I’ll come back at the end of the week to check on you.”

I nodded and he smiled at me before ruffling my hair. He took two steps backward and vanished in a spiral of leaves. 

I felt my stomach growl and thought back to the last time I ate… I believe it was two or so days ago. The kitchen was nice but… I was too short. There was a box I was able to stand on to get to one of the drawers. It was full of something called Instant Ramen. The instructions said to add boiling water and wait. 

I believe I remember watching the old matron boil water in something she called a kettle. She used to take me out of my box to make me food. She would make songs out of everything. She sang to me every night before she disappeared.

I found a kettle in a separate drawer. I put it on the stove and turned on the heat to maximum. I stood, waiting in front of the stove and heard the kettle whistle. I believe the matron took it off the heat when that happened. I grabbed the kettle but it was hot.

I looked at my hand. It was red, puffy, and charred, it hurt… I forgot the tea towel. The swelling went down and redness completely disappeared in minutes. Moving it didn’t hurt either. 

From what I saw, the human body takes days to weeks to heal. But in any case, it was just further proof that I was a monster.

My stomach growled again. I poured the water and waited for three minutes. It was done! That was easy, for the most part. 

I took a bite… it was alright I guess. Better than what I’ve ever had before. I took another bite, but it started tasting weird. I felt sick.

Halfway through the bowl, I felt my stomach turn painfully and ran to the bathroom. 

The window in the bathroom showed it was already dark. The matron used to check that I was in bed 30 minutes after sunset or I wouldn’t get lunch the next day. But I always got up again afterward. The teachers would grade papers or read in the classroom under my box. I watched through the cracks and listened to their stories until I fell asleep. 

My new room had a closet, with pajamas and a big warm bed with big blankets. I knew the other kids at the orphanage had them and I always wanted them too. I didn’t really imagine this day would actually ever happen.

The bed was soft, unlike the blankets the matron put on my floor. I could look out the window and watch the soft chirping on the nightingale and the swaying of the large oak. I could feel the wind on my face but I wasn’t scared and cold anymore. 

It was warm

It was so warm.   
  
My face felt hot and the pillow became damp. I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m happy, I’m so happy. But I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop.

\---

Hiruzen watched the boy curl in on himself and weep. He was supposed to be doing work but as soon as he got back to his office he was so worried all he could do was watch Naruto through his glass globe. 

There was a soft knock on his door and he straightened out and canceled the jutsu. A lady in doctor garb walked in slowly closing the door behind her. 

“The report, sir.”

Hiruzen gestured with his hand for the patient folder.

Patient 3079AB: Naruto Uzumaki

_Synopsis:_  
_Multiple small contusions, mainly located around the upper arm and lower neck._  
_Large abrasions on hands, feet, and knees, possible infections._  
_Raptured tenketsu leading to swelling of chakra in the bloodstream, bones, and body tissue._

There was a collection of x-rays and marginal notes describing the full extent of all Naruto’s injuries listed on the next few pages. 

“How did this happen?” Hiruzen asked while the document shook in his grip.  
“It seems that because of malnutrition and physical neglect Naruto’s body needed more chakra to sustain and heal itself. My hypothesis is that the Kyuubi's chakra was pulled on and the sudden growth in chakra caused his tenketsu to rip.”

Hiruzen’s teeth clenched, “How is he alive? Tenketsu damage should lead to immediate death!”

“It’s not a common occurrence, so not too much is known on why the patient dies, but it is assumed that it is because the body starts to lack the amount of chakra it needs. The blood will naturally absorb the chakra so not enough of it goes to other vital organs. Patient 3079AB has naturally large chakra reserves and two different chakra sources to pull from, meaning, he is able to keep himself alive.”

“I thought chakra pouring into the bloodstream could poison blood cells.”

“That’s another theory but 3079AB’s chakra has adapted to the Kyuubi's chakra to oppose its corrosive effects. It has natural healing effects similar to medical ninjutsu.”

Hiruzen rubbed his forehead with his thumbs, “Anything else?”

“There is one more thing not mentioned-”

“-of course-”

“-The Kyuubi’s chakra has been forcefully merged with the patient's own regular chakra.”

“So all of the Kyuubi’s chakra has been expelled into Naruto?”

“Not exactly. The patient and Kyuubi still produce or absorb the chakra respectively. It’s more that instead of the earlier when 3079AB had to draw on Kyuubi’s chakra, that chakra is automatically entering the patient's reserves. It’s more of a third source of chakra all together.”

“What does this mean for Naruto?”

“I’m not sure. More tests would have to be done.”

“Oh god,” Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and sighed, “hasn’t he been through enough?”

“All I can say for sure at the moment is that 3079AB needs to have a healthy well-regulated diet. Patients who suffer from malnutrition cannot eat large amounts of food as their body will reject it, leading to possible starvation or other internal problems that will surely cause death.”

Hiruzen winced, thinking back to watching Naruto vomit his dinner into the toilet.

“Is that all?”

“For the moment, yes.”

“Dismissed,” Hiruzen waved his hand at the doctor before slumping down in frustration. God, he was too tired for this. With a flourish of a hand, an Anbu appeared in front of Hrizen's desk. 

“Track down Jiraiya, Tsunade too if you can, but Jiraiya takes priority. Make sure they come back, it’s an emergency, tell them Naruto’s involved.”

The Anbu nodded before sinking into the ground. Hiruzen rubbed a tired hand over his face before returning to paperwork.

\---

I imitated the chirping noise of the bird sitting on my windowsill. It was a brown and red finch. I didn't know what I was saying or what it said either, but if I copied the noises, the finch would stay and chirp back. I looked at the sun. It was just rising over the tall rooftops of Konoha. I chirped back to the bird once more and went into the bathroom. There was a mirror but I tried to avoid looking into it. 

As I thought, my face was just as ugly as my hair and my hands. The scars were the worst part. I didn’t see anyone else with those. The matron was right.

All the clothes I had in my room were too big, but they were warm and nice. Softer than anything I had ever touched before. I went to the kitchen because I was still hungry, but remembering the ramen I didn’t want to try that again. The fridge was mostly empty except for a box of strawberries.

I ate the entire box before leaving my “home”. The streets were just like yesterday, but now less crowded. Instead of yelling at each other, people were setting things up, putting apples in boxes and boxes on stands. I made sure to watch diligently. Maybe soon I could even approach one. But at the moment no one else was doing that, so it must have been taboo. 

Yet in a split second the streets were full again. It was overwhelming, but this was a good chance. I walked to the stand, it sold strawberries and I liked strawberries.

I stood and waited for the man behind the stand to speak to me. But he ignored me, even after three people had come and left. At another stall, a more crowded one, the people called to the vendor.  
  
Maybe I was just too short. So I tried standing on my toes and waved, “Sir?”

The man looked over to me and his eyes met mine for a second, as if the reaction was intrinsic, but he looked as if he had just made a grave mistake. Instead, he turned quickly to fix the display as no other customers were there. 

It was very illogical. But humans seemed to do that often.

They must have realized I was a monster. But the birds on my windowsill still chirp back to me if I chirp well enough. And I was by no means a bird. So I just needed to try a little harder and then no one would notice. I tried stretching my mouth into a “smile” like all the people walking by. I tried to flutter my eyes like the women did or snapping my fingers like the men did, but everyone remained silent. The only reaction I had gotten was a shove.

I didn’t know what I was doing wrong but my tactics weren't working. Smiling wasn't working. It seemed I would need to collect more information. 

The street I was pushed onto was empty, so I decided to follow it. The further on I went the farther apart the houses were until the houses stopped altogether and I was so deep in the forest I couldn’t see the cliff with faces in it. The street had stopped a while ago, before the foliage grew so thick, so I didn’t know where to go anymore. I decided to follow the sound of the birds. Maybe they would know where some food is. 

A nightingale flew out of the trees and landed on my shoulder, maybe it was the one I saw last night, I wasn’t sure though, they all looked the same to me. It chirped at me and I chirped back but I still didn’t know what it wanted. It got off of my shoulder and flew in front of me slightly, its wings beating quickly but it went slow enough for me to follow. 

Through the trees was a small opening. There had to be at least 15 birds all chirping and pecking at trees. That was understandable, in the middle, the biggest tree hung heavy with ripe pink apples. Bushes littered the clearing, spotted in blueberries, white and red currants, and blackberries. The bird leading me chirped before flying off into the trees.

Most of the birds continued to focus on their feast except for one who flew and landed in my hair. It was unpleasant but I let it nestle there anyway. I was eating my fill until I saw a bird pecking at the ground. There was an almost dead bush, at the moment just a stick with three leaves attached, pushing out of the ground. I picked up the bird and placed it on a branch that still had plenty of berries left on it. 

The bush wasn’t getting enough sunlight. I could keep it, and then maybe it would bear fruits too. I dug it up, which wasn’t too hard with its shallow roots but my hands were covered in dirt, grains of sand filling the insides of my nails. 

I was thirsty so I decided to leave with my new plant and the bird still sleeping in my hair. The sound of rushing water brought me to a river. There was only one deer there. When I approached she lifted her head. I didn’t know what sound a deer makes. But she made a soft growling noise and stomped her hooves. I repeated the soft growl she made and the deer seemed pacified. 

She took me to a new clearing where a bunch of other deer were sleeping. It was getting dark so I decided to do the same thing. The bird resting in my hair stayed and as the pain of its claws waned, the bird’s warmth became pleasant. The forest ground wasn’t very comfortable, definitely not like my new bed, but it was familiar. Kind of like my box. But now I had the deer. It was less lonely. 

\---

Naruto’s eyes cracked open slightly, but he wasn’t in the deer grove any longer. Now he was moving… No, someone was moving him. Naruto’s eyes snapped open, fully awake now. The person, male, carrying Naruto was one of those animal-mask-wearing people. Black spiky hair stuck out of the mask. Naruto felt a slight panic bubble in his chest but the logical part of his brain, arguing he wasn’t in any danger, won out and Naruto let his body relax a little. Naruto was resting on the man’s back, his plant squished in between their bodies. Naruto shuffled it around, trying to keep it from getting any more damaged. The man stopped suddenly and let Naruto slide off. They were at his apartment.

Naruto unlocked it and was about to thank the man, but he walked inside, bypassing Naruto and turning into the kitchen. Only then did Naruto notice the plastic bag full of groceries sitting on his table. The Anbu sorted through the bag before throwing ingredients onto a pan.

Naruto sat at his small dining room table and watched all of the movements carefully, trying to burn them into his memory. The man set down two plates, one with pan fried fish and the other with fresh cooked rice. 

He gingerly took a bite, it was delicious, the best thing he had ever tasted. The Anbu stood and watched for a minute before turning to walk out of the front door. Naruto’s legs reacted before his mind could catch up, standing abruptly and tugging on the long plack cape of the Anbu.

Naruto got onto his knees and delicately bowed his body forward, palms pressed into the wooden floor and forehead touching his hands.

“Thank you,” Naruto whispered.

The Anbu shook his head and waved his hands frantically, “That was nothing, that was just basic human kindness.”

Naruto lifted his head, “Basic? Does that mean you should always do it?”

The Anbu squatted down to Naruto’s level, “Not cooking specifically, but yeah. You should always be kind and be polite.”

“How do I do that?” Naruto grasped the Anbu’s outstretched hand.

“Well for starters, that bow is only for extreme gestures,” The Anbu pulled Naruto and himself up, “How about I tell you tomorrow. Finish your food and go to bed for today.”

Naruto nodded his head, his long hair bouncing with his head. The man pet Naruto’s head and disappeared. 

Naruto walked back to his small dining table. His only chair laid on the ground, toppled over. Naruto got out the biggest white mug he had, moved his plant inside, and placed it in front of a south-facing window. He followed the instructions of the Anbu and tucked in bed quickly after dinner. It was well past midnight but Naruto had nothing to wake up to anyway.


	2. First Time for Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your support! I really didn't expect it. I should probably mention that I've written 12 chapters for this already, so I might not be able to accommodate some suggestions. I plan on updating weekly, the editing process takes me quite a while.
> 
> But I still love the comments and feel free to still leave suggestions. Any criticism is also welcome. If you see a mistake, please comment, I'll try to fix it quickly.

The Hokage came to get me today and took me to his tall building just like he said he would. However, there were two other people in his office. One was a blond woman, Tsunade, she introduced herself. The other, an odd-looking old man, Jiraiya, stood next to her. Their expressions went from calm, maybe slightly annoyed to horrified the minute I walked in.

Of course, people wouldn’t be happy to see a monster. But most everyone else ignored me. They did not look at me like this. 

Tsunade bent down, lowering herself onto her knees, “Can I hug you,” her voice trembled. 

That didn’t make sense. It was inconsistent. Maybe she was forcing herself, but then why would her voice tremble like that? Was it sadness? Or maybe it was pity? 

Pity? For a monster? That also didn’t make sense. I could ask, but humans lie. My mouth felt dry and flaky like the crumbling pieces of chalk when pushed against a blackboard. 

I nodded because saying no would probably mean and the Anbu told me to be nice. Tsunade smiled, sighing in relief when her arms wrapped tightly around me. It was so warm. It felt nice. I didn’t know how to react so I wrapped my arms around her too. It was even warmer like that. Maybe she felt warm too. 

The Hokage put a hand on my shoulder, “I hate to ask, but would you be ok performing some test.”

“We just want to make sure you’re ok kid,” Jiraiya spoke up. I could hardly see him over Tsunade’s shoulder but he was scratching his head, eyes downcast.

“Only if you’re ok with it,” Tsunade interjected. 

“Ok,” I answered. I really didn’t mind. I didn’t have anything else to do. Now that I could no longer listen to the classroom under my box.

Tsunade nodded and stood up, her arms pulling away. But she quickly grabbed my hand and the warmth stayed. She led me out the door and to another room that looked more like the white room I woke up in. She sat me down on the bed and took off my  _ kimono _ top.

“I just need to check on your seal,” Jiraiya clarified, but that didn’t mean anything to me. I still didn't understand.

“Seal?”

Jiraya looked back at the Hokage with uncertainty. The Hokage stepped forward, “Did the matron at the orphanage tell you anything… about your situation?”   


“...She told me I was a monster,” I knew it was true and I knew everyone else knew too. Yet somehow, saying it made my skin crawl and my hands burn.

Tsunade gripped my shoulders with both of her hands. She looked like she had something to say. But her mouth just kept opening and closing. She couldn’t be surprised, could she?    


“You’re not a monster,” the Hokage sighed, “I wanted you to live a normal life…”

“It’s too late for that,” Tsunade snapped, “If you don’t tell him it will only hurt him.”

Jiraiya had his eyes closed, “Even if you don’t tell him, he’d figure it out soon enough.”

I felt like I wasn’t in the room, everyone was speaking as if I wasn't there. It was oddly comforting. I could return to being an outside observer.

The Hokage nodded with an exhausted smile, “Naruto, listen carefully. When you were born, a big fox-,” the Hokage paused, “Do you know what the nine-tailed fox is?”

I nodded. I think I knew. I heard of it briefly, it seemed that people preferred not to mention the subject. It was a demonic animal that attacked the village. But it sounded more like a story then a reality. How could animals be demonic? They were animals. They didn’t act like people, they lived by instinct. 

Demons act like animals while looking human. That’s what I am. That’s what the matron told me.

“The nine-tailed fox attacked the village seven years ago so the fourth Hokage sealed the fox inside your body to prevent it from killing anyone. But just because it’s chakra is sealed in your body does not mean it can affect your mind,” The Hokage grasped my hand in his. My hands were so small compared to his, “You are you Naruto. You are not a demon because you're a hero. You're saving Konoha.” 

Hero. That didn’t sound right. In the stories I had heard, people became heroes because they acted heroically. But I did nothing. The Fourth Hokage was a hero. 

I wanted to tell them that. I wasn’t a hero. No, I was a monster. Because the matron said so and she treated me like a monster. Everyone else treats me like one too.

I imitate them, the humans and the animals. Because I am a monster. 

But I knew they wouldn’t understand. Tsunade would look sad again, and it was unbefitting to pity a demon. So I nodded again, “I understand.” But I didn’t.

Jiraiya smiled and nodded, “I just need you to channel some chakra.”

“No, wait,” Tsunade shooed Jiraiya away, “Before that, I should check if it’s safe for him to do that.”

Her hands glowed green before she reached for my shoulder. It tickled, but in a pleasant way. It was the same feeling as when butterflies landed on my fingertips. Or when streaks of sunlight spilled through the cracks in my wall and pricked my skin.

“How do you use chakra?” I decided to ask because Tsunade’s chakra felt nice.

The Hokage laughed a little and Tsunade turned to glare at him. He waved his hands, “calm down, he’ll need to know the basics to present the seal.”

Tsunade sighed and turned back to look at me, “Ok, just be careful.” I don’t know if she’s talking to me or the Hokage, or even Jiraiya.

“Chakra is- do you know what chakra is?” I nodded, “Good. I think about chakra as strings traveling around the body. These strings are always flowing at a consistent rate around and out of the body. When you use chakra, you are altering the flow of your chakra to either focus it in one part of your body or exert it from the body. Imagine you’re pulling on that string,” The Hoage stopped, “Well, you have your chakra and the Kyubbi chakra, so really you have two strings flowing throughout your body.”

Tsunade turned around, “Are you done?” she raised an eyebrow, “The doctors were right, he has permanent tenketsu damage. He’s not in danger, but we really would need to do extensive tests to know what the long term looks like.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Good news is that his body does release chakra. The amount is comparable to that of a genin so he does have enough chakra to call about the seal.”

“Ok kid, just do what Sensei said, give that chakra a small tug,” Jiraiya got in front of me again.

“Where is the seal?”

“Stomach, but it doesn’t really matter-”

A small sheen of purple chakra appeared over my stomach, but it was only there for a second before it disappeared again, showing a swirling tattoo, the seal I guess.

Jiraiya whistled, “It’s one thing hearing about it, but it's completely different seeing it.”

I liked Jiraiya. It seemed like nothing fazed him, nothing kept him sad for long. I wouldn’t have to worry about upsetting him, “Is that not normal?”

The Hokage opened his mouth “Well, it’s not that-”

“Kid there’s nothing normal about that,” Jiraiya’s laugh was loud and bounced inside the room. It sounded like it was coming from all directions at once, but it ended quickly when Tsunade hit him over the head.

“It’s perfectly normal for your condition. Chakra flows out the tenketsu and there are no tenketsusin that area of the abdominal region. But your tenketsu are basically gone so your chakra can come out of any part of your body.”

“It’s also purple,” Jiraiya murmured, “But I guess it proves the Kyuubi’s chakra did mix with yours.” He looked down at the swirl again. His hand glowed too, but it glowed blue before he pressed against my stomach.

“This seal is made up of three main components: mind, body, and spirit. Minato sealed the Kyuubi’s yin chakra into Naruto, that's the spirit. This part of the seal is practically gone.”

“I thought Minato sealed the yang in,” The Hokage looked incredulously at the seal.

“Apparently not, but it makes sense, the yin chakra would not be as toxic to Naruto’s body. I could try to strengthen the seal but…” Jiraiya looked at Tsunade who shook her head, “I wouldn’t be good for Naruto.”

“The body seal is also weaker,” Jiraiya looked over Naruto’s body, “But you don’t look like a fox… The last part, the mind component, is completely fine. Naruto hasn’t even made contact with the fox yet. I could try to make the body seal stronger but it will probably strengthen the spirit seal too. We need-”

“More tests?” The Hokage asked. And Jiraiya nodded. 

The Hokage sat down on the bed next to me, “I really want you to think about this Naruto. We can do more tests but it will require you to learn how to properly control your chakra. There may even be physical tests that will exhaust you. Are you ok with that? You can say no, you’re just a kid after all.”

I wanted to tell him of course, that it didn’t require any thinking. There are no other choices for me. I had nothing else I could do. But I just said yes because I’m sure he would disagree. 

The Hokage gave me a small smile but he didn’t look happy. What was the point of smiling when you weren’t happy? Human mannerisms were illogical.

“Then you can go for now and rest,” The Hokage opened the door, “You can report back here tomorrow morning.”

I assumed that was an order to go home. So I walked out of the door. Jiraiya followed me out, dropping his hand onto my head, “Now that you’re free, we can go to the bathhouse.”

It wasn’t a question so that meant I had to follow him. But the Hokage said to rest, “Can I rest in the bathhouse?”

“Sure,” His hand steered me off the path to my home and instead towards the direction of a small bridge, “Though I’m not sure you’ll want to- Have you ever been there?” His eyebrows wiggled in a wave shape. I didn’t realize the body could move in that way.

Tsunade grasped my hand. She had long fingers and even longer fingernails. They dug into the palm of her hand, forming small crescent shapes.

“He’s coming with me,” She tugged on my arm, pulling me away from the weight of Jiraiya’s hand. I felt ten pounds lighter.

“Heh? What’s he gonna do with you? Stare at pictures of skeletons? I’m satiating his young mind with the information a growing boy needs.”

Tsunade scowled at Jiraiya. I would have never thought a human could get so angry at another human, “You Perv!” She let go of my hand to grab the railing of the bridge. It snapped.

Jiraiya reeled away, “Jeez ok! Sorry Hime,” his arms were up to shield his face. Tsunade was still shaking her fist at him. They seemed busy so I decided to continue home. 

The Anbu said he would be coming back today. He had visited me twice earlier this week and his food was always warm and tasty.

He said he could only cook fish but I liked fish so it didn’t bother me. He wasn’t inside when I entered through the door. I supposed that made sense, Anbu said entering someone’s home without permission was rude. 

But he did it all the time.

Maybe the rule doesn’t apply to him because he was nice. I sat down in the small brown chair at my table. I only had one chair so Anbu always stood while he explained how to be nice to me.

I felt hands on my shoulder before I heard the loud  _ “hey there,” _ said right into my ear. I turned around, his mask was in my face.

“Hello.”

Anbu straightened, “part of being nice is being happy, or at least surprised when your friends visit.”

“I see. I am surprised you are here.”

“That’ll have to do,” he shrugged, “Cuz I have another surprise for you.”

He disappeared into the door that led to my bedroom. Out of it, he dragged a chair.

It was made from a light brown ochre that was woven to create an image of a butterfly in the negative space. On the seat of the chair, a pink and yellow cushion covered in a butterfly print was pinned securely. It was…  _ atrocious _ . 

Anbu gestured at the chair with one hand, “Do you like it?”

“No,” it was the ugliest piece of furniture I had seen. But for some reason, Anbu giving it to me made me feel warm.

His shoulders dropped, “At least you’re honest.”

“Is honesty nice?”

His head swiveled between looking at me and the chair, “Yeah… yeah, it is.”

He dragged the chair to the table, “If you don’t like it…”

It sounded like he was going to say more but he stopped speaking. I didn’t know he was implying, I already told him I didn’t like how it looked. 

“...I can just take it with me.”

“I’ll keep it.”

He gave me a thumbs up and plopped down in the chair. The chair made a creaking sound and a plume of dust rose out the seat. 

“Where did you buy it?” the dust burnt my lungs but it was a familiar raw feeling I had long since grown used to.

Anbu coughed, “garage sale, old lady, butterflies,” he waved his hands, “you like butterflies right?”

I nodded, I did like butterflies. They flew, they were pretty, and it didn’t hurt when they landed on me, unlike the birds.

Still, the chair remained hideous.

Anbu stood, I wasn't sure why he ever sat to begin with. He placed a plastic plate in front of me. It was fish.

He coughed into his hand despite wearing a mask. It made me wonder why he wore a mask. But I didn't ask.

"So," Anbu pointed at the plate, "how is it?"

I ate a bit, "good."

He lowered himself into the chair more carefully this time, "That's nice."

"Would you like some?" Last week he taught me sharing was a mark of good character.

"No," he waved one hand before propping it up on the table and resting his head on it, "I ate earlier."

He watched me while I ate. I had never been looked at this much. It made my cheeks burn again.

"You have very proper table etiquette," Anbu murmured.

I was never taught table  _ etiquette _ , "what is it?"

Anbu shrugged, "I never paid much attention to it and it doesn't matter all that much. But you eat slowly and very properly."

"Eating quickly makes me feel bad."

"And I guess no one likes food on their face," Anbu nodded.

"I've never had food on my face."

Anbu didn't move for a bit. It was hard to know what he was thinking with the mask. Anbu suddenly leaned over the table, taking my chopsticks.

He placed a single grain of rice on my nose, "there you go, the quintessential experience."

"Thank you," my stomach felt like it was buzzing. It made me feel light. I didn’t know what to do with that feeling, it was like something wanted to erupt from inside me.

Anbu laughed, falling back on his dusty cushion.

\---

Hiruzen was glaring icily at the wall, standing in the corner of the little room Tsunade decided to set up in. He was taking small quick puffs of his pipe.

Tsunade sat across from Naruto at a compact wooden desk, holding a small surgical knife to his finger.

"It's just gonna burn a bit and then it'll all be over, ok?"

Naruto's shoulders tensed a fraction but he nodded. Tsunade brought the small blade down. Naruto's finger prickled as if cut, but there wasn't any incision. Tsunade stared and Hiruzen's eyes followed her gaze.

She tried pushing the blade harder.

"Tsunade-"

"It's not like I'm enjoying this," she snapped. Naruto couldn't place what it was, but the silence in the room was unlike any he had been in before.

"Naruto, do you feel comfortable making the incision on your finger, it doesn't have to be big."

Hiruzen's gaze hardened and Tsuande knowingly ignored him. 

Naruto took the knife and slit his skin. Pearls of blood pooled from the cut and fell into a tray. 

"Isn't that enough," Hiruzen mumbled behind a screen of dissipating smoke.

Tsunade ignored him once more, "Smoke isn't healthy for Naruto. If you're gonna keep doing that, you can step outside."

Hiruzen set his pipe down with a quiet thump. The air was heavy

Jiraiya jumped into the room through the window, "Hey what's with the atmosphere?"

It wasn’t by a lot, but Naruto felt a bit lighter.

Tsunade snarled, "This is important. Do you always have to interrupt."

Hiruzen pinched his nose, "You're late."

"Am I?" Jiraiya grinned, "I thought-" his eyes landed on Naruto slitting his finger, "Woah, whoa, you call self-mutilation important?"

"Does everyone think I'm a bad doctor?" Tsunade hissed, banging her and against the wooden desk. 

Jiraiya tried to look at his sensei for help but Hiruzen's eyes were trained on Naruto.

Naruto felt like he was being suffocated, which was odd because no one was touching him. Pressure, it was a pressure to talk. He had never felt that before, if anything, the pressure was always to be as silent as possible. So he settled on "I feel fine."

Jiraiya gave a small smile, "happy to hear it."

"It seems the chakra has bled more into his cells more than we thought," Tsunade gripped the table, forcing herself to stay calm, "when I tried to cut his skin, it was rock hard but Naruto was able to do it himself."

Jiraiya looked more serious than Naruto had seen him before, "Odd…"

"Any ideas?" Hiruzen glanced at his student.

Jiraiya scratched his chin, "sounds kind of like the reports I got from Suna. Nothing can hurt their jinchuriki, a shield of sand keeps him from getting hurt. His chakra responds to malice.

Tsunade scrunched up her brow, "I wasn't trying to hurt him!"

"I know, I know," Jiraiya lifted his hands defensively, "maybe it was your intent to cut him in general."

Tsunade looked incredulous.

"Hey, I don't know any more than you do."

She sighed, "yeah sorry," she looked at Naruto's skinny arms, "I guess I'm just still shocked."

"We're all stressed," Hiruzen spoke up, "I'm making everyone tense," his voice gruff with age, "I'm sorry, I should have trusted you. Especially when this was all my fault," Hiruzen walked to the door.

"W-" Naruto glanced at his arms cautiously, "what's your fault?" voiced with such genuine confusion.

Tsunade frowned and Hiruzen paused. Jiraiya spoke first, "Nothing was his fault, everything's fine."

A minuscule smile appeared on Hiruzen's face before he disappeared behind the door.

"Sometimes he just," Tsunade groaned, dropping her head, "everything's fine?" she repeated, unsatisfied.

Jiraiya didn't respond.

"Do you know what happened to you Naruto? do you understand?"

"No," Naruto shook his head.

Jiraiya gave her a warning look. 

"You were abused-"

"Tsunade-" Jiriaya started.

"-Why aren't you angry?" she begged.

"Stop," Jiraiya holared, "Tsunade stop."

Naruto looked blankly at the table, quiet.

"Oh god, what's wrong with me?” Tsunade folded her arms upon the table, “I need a drink."

"I can get you water," Naruto tilted his head to the side. His voice just hardly more than a whisper

"Yes," Jiraiya nodded before Tsunade could talk, "that'd be great thanks."

Tsunade stuffed her face in her arms, "I need to get a grip."

Jiraiya left a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm just so angry- I couldn't sleep last night and-"

"Hey," Jiraiya shook her shoulder lightly, "I'm angry too- I'm livid. But don't push that on Naruto. It's best for him to move on."

Tsunade rubbed her eyes tiredly, "yeah. And we need to get these tests over with. No drinking."

"Yeah?" Jiraiya took a few steps back.

Tsunade stretched her out above her head, "yeah."

"Good, we-"

Naruto peeked his head into the room, looking down at the floor when all eyes turned on him.

"That was quick," Jiraiya motioned him in with a smile.

"Mm," Naruto nodded, "Hoka- um, Jiji showed me where it was."

"Alright kid," Tsunade sealed up the petri dish with blood and pushed it aside, "take a seat." She walked around him, equipping him with a sphygmomanometer and an assortment of other machines.

"Eat this," Tsunade pushed him a small rice bar. 

Naruto listened immediately. He bowed his head, "It's very good, thank you," maybe even as good as Anbu's cooking.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, it was pretty flavorless. 

Naruto was looking at the bar with an unreadable expression, shoulders tense. Tsunade prompted him, "you want to say something?"

Naruto nodded slowly, "what's it for? And- uh what's it made of?"

Jiraiya made a grand gesture of patting Naruto on the back, hard enough to make the blond stumble forward, "Great question."

Tsunade smirked at Jiraiya, eyes illuminated with amusement. Naruto, ever out of the loop, watched in confusion. Maybe it was an adult thing, to be so weird.

Tsunade tore her eyes away from the fidgeting toad sage to look back at Naruto, "it's to help you gain weight, and all this," she gestured at the medical equipment around her, "is to make sure you don't react badly to anything," Tsunade started to get more excited and Jiraiya didn't try to hide his loud groan, "It’s mostly rice and nuts but the important thing is the parsley. Do you like cooking?"

Naruto wasn't entirely sure, he'd only made instant ramen. But he liked Anbu's food, so Naruto nodded. 

"And-" Naruto pressed his hands together in his lap. Jiraiya nudged his back, "how does it work?"

Tsunade opened her mouth but Jiraiya cut in, "Another, truly great question, but the tests?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "If you're so enthusiastic, give this to Shizune," she shoved him the small petri dish, "she's in the hospital, upper floor."

Jiraiya scowled but snatched the dish away and jumped out the window. Tsunade rubbed her hands together, pleased, "Ok so this," she grabbed a small potted plant, "is peppermint plant."

It was a little wilted, Naruto noted, probably needed to be watered more often. And the brown tipped leaves indicated it needed less sunlight. Naruto decided to keep quiet though.

Tsunade plucked a leaf, "normally mint has a multitude of small health benefits. But with chakra, I can increase all those properties or super increase one property," and she did just that, the mint leaf perked up and gained a healthy blue-green luster. Tsunade smiled softly at the quiet fascination Naruto watched the whole process with. 

"You want to try?" 

Naruto nodded quickly.

"Great," she paused trying to think of how to briefly explain the hard and tedious process of making regular chakra into medical chakra. She settled on, “do your best.” 

Naruto took a leaf tentatively, looking a bit unsure. Tsunade continued, "Just push a controlled, small amount of chakra into the leaf- and try not to use any Kyuubi chakra."

The leaf in her grasp suddenly shriveled up, as if burnt, "And that's what happens if you use too much chakra. Try not to do that."

Naruto’s hands coated in a soft blue glow and poof- the leaf was near shining.

Tsunade's surprise quickly morphed into a smirk, "congratulations- as per hypothesis- your chakra is naturally healing."

"Is that good?"

"Of course," Her puffed up chest deflated slightly with the realization he would probably never be able to output enough chakra from one place to be a true medic nin, nonetheless, "it's amazing, you can protect yourself with minimal training."

Jiraiya slowly clapped from his place on the windowsill, “Well Shizune has the blood.”

Tsunade nodded, “Fine, that's technically it for my tests today then.”

“Hey kid,” Jiraiya waved his hand.

Naruto blinked rapidly, looking up from the leaf in his hands, “Hello.”

“You know what,” Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, “I think that’ll be it for today, my tests can wait a day.”

“Really?” Tsunade burst from her seat, “Great, ok Naruto, are you doing anything tonight? No? Then we’ll go to my house to practice.”

Jiraiya slowly raised an eyebrow, “Hime-”

“Relax, it’s just cooking,” she grabbed Naruto’s arm and he stumbled to keep up as she pulled him out of the building, “This will be so much fun,” she grinned at him. Naruto nodded.

It was on Anbu’s fifteenth visit, after a full month of cooking with Tsunade, that Naruto felt ready to make something for the man. A simple sukiyaki dinner with miso soup.

Naruto set the table, adjusting the precise direction the chopsticks were pointing. Naruto sat down, looking over the table for any other imperfections. The room was perfectly still.

Minutes later, his door burst open. Naruto gave a tiny relieved sigh in time, the oppressive silence vanishing with Anbu’s appearance.

“Hey Naru, what’re you feeling today?” Anbu took off his shoes, “Fish with or without soy sauce?”

Naruto fidgeted, feeling suddenly very embarrassed about his cooking. Anbu looked behind him when Naruto didn’t answer.

“Oh? You cooked?”

Naruto nodded. He wasn’t sure what expression Anbu was making but it felt warm.

Anbu walked to the table, hovering above Naruto, “It does look good,” Anbu fell into his cushioned chair, “and it does smell really good,” he mumbled.

“Thank you,” Naruto clasped his hands together on his lap before bowing his head.

“No no,” Anbu laughed while scratching his head, “thanks for making all of this.”

Naruto looked down, “I wanted to.”   
  
Anbu was quiet for a moment. Naruto considered eating, but he wanted to know what Anbu thought of his cooking. 

Anbu sighed dramatically and Naruto raised his head in response, “I really have no reason not to trust you...” Anbu scratched his chin.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

“I never introduced myself, did I?” Anbu continued.

Naruto shook his head, Anbu told him it was polite to introduce yourself before asking for someone else's name. Anbu never did do that but he was nice so it probably didn’t matter.

Anbu lifted the white animal mask off his face. Black eyes to match black his hair and a small warm smile. All Naruto could see was that smile.

“Name’s Uchiha Shisui.”

_ Shisui, Shisui, Shisui. _

Naruto’s face reddened and he didn’t know what to do with all the warmth in his chest, “N-nice to meet you.”

_ Shisui _ chuckled, and it sounded so much clearer without the mask.

“It smells even better now,”  _ Shisui _ eyed the bowl, “Itadakimasu.”

Naruto followed after  _ Shisui’s _ lead, whispering, “Itadakimasu.”

_ Shisui  _ paused in his slurping to give a quick thumbs up and a bright grin, “It’s definitely better than my cooking.”

Naruto shook his head, “You’re cooking is my favorite.”

He hummed in surprise, “I guess we can switch off.”

Naruto nodded quickly before busying himself in the food. He wasn’t sure what he liked better, the feeling of  _ Shisui’s _ smile when Naruto cooked or the warm feeling tingling just under his skin when  _ Shisui _ cooked for him.

_ Shisui _ stood up, stacking his empty bowls and stealing Naruto’s empty miso bowl, “Since you cooked, I’ll clean.”   


Naruto shook his head and stood abruptly, “I’ll clean.” 

_ Shisui  _ was already rinsing out the bowls in the sink, “Naruto, the key to being nice and a good friend, maybe the most important thing in general, is to help your precious people. In fact, it’s good to help anyone in need whenever possible.”

“Then,” Naruto fiddled with his fingers nervously, “then let me help you wash the dishes.”

_ Shisui _ looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes, “You learn fast. Fine.”

Naruto stood on a stepping stool next to Shisui, basking in the warmth of doing something together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The comments inspired me to add a lot to this chapter so I hope y'all enjoyed it!


	3. Shifting Sands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said it last time, but seriously thank you so much for the comments, they're all so respectful and kind. Honestly, a blast to read.

It had been five months since I left my box. The tests ended early today. The Hokage told me it was only 2:00. We usually ended around 5:00 and I usually spent the rest of the day at the library. Sometimes Shisui would visit me and teach me things. But he said he was busy so that was rare. It didn’t matter that it was rare, because he spent time with a monster. He would always say it was basic human decency, but I was a monster, and human decency was meant for humans, not monsters.

However, today it was 2:00 and the Hokage told me to do something fun. I didn't know what could be considered fun other than reading. So I asked and Jiji said to go play with children my age.

I was used to watching them from my box. But I never thought I would leave my box so I hadn’t considered talking to them. And humans tended to ignore me, so the odds were not favorable. However, the Hokage told me to do it.

The park had children so I went there. They were like a hoard, covering the entire expanse of the park, there were some parents sitting on the benches, but not many. I walked to the slide first because there was a line of kids that looked like they were my age.

But no one talked to me and I wasn’t sure what to say either, so I waited quietly. I went down the slide just as quietly. I didn’t see the appeal. 

Watching people was easier than interacting with them. And I wished that I could stay away, observing but not engaging. Things were less complicated if I didn’t get involved, people became predictable and their intrapersonal conversations made more sense.

I walked to the swings, at least I wouldn’t have to talk then. But I tripped over something. 

I looked behind me to see a foot sticking out of a bush. Then a head popped out as well. The brown-haired boy looked over at me. 

“Eh?,” Then he laughed, “Sorry, you really scared me there! I thought you caught me.”

It sounded serious, “Is someone looking for you?”

“Yeah, Shikamaru. He’s it.”   
I tried to think back on what I saw in my box, to remember if this was normal behavior for human children. Most likely a game of hide and seek.

“Sorry, I could have gotten you caught.”

The boy waved his hand, “Naw, they never find me, winning is getting boring,” he looked at me for a second, “Do you want to join?”

If I joined I would be playing as the Hokage told me. I nodded.

“Cool, the name’s Kiba.”

“Naruto.”

He nodded and grabbed my hand. Even his hand was a lot bigger than mine.

“Shikamaru!” He yelled with his hand around his mouth, “Shik-”

“What are you doing idiot, you’re supposed to be hiding,” the black-haired boy, Shikamaru I assume, rolled his eyes before he looked at me, “Who’s this.”

“Naruto, he’s going to join our game.”

Shikamaru nodded while seemingly scanning my body, “I guess we better restart the game, what a drag.”

Kiba turned to me again, “Don’t worry about him, he’s just lazy.”

Shikamaru mumbled quietly, “Whatever, I guess I’ll be it again.”

Kiba huffed and multiple people popped out from the tree line that circled the park, “It’s not fun when you’re it.”

Shikamaru scoffed, “You do it then.”

“Naw,” Kiba shrugged.

“Then don’t complain,” Shikamaru appeared uninterested. As if he didn’t want to be participating at all. I wondered if he and Kiba were friends, if they were, their friendship was nothing like what Shisui showed me.

Kiba deflated, groaning out a “Fine.”

One of the other boys, I assumed they were playing too, yelled out “begin,” and Shikamaru closed his eyes with resignation.

I stepped onto the bark of a nearby tree, chakra hoisting my body to stand perpendicular to the tree trunk. Once securely in the treetops, I sat down. Shikamaru wandered around, directionless. And yet, without much effort, he found the closest pair of kids. Passionlessly intelligent.

Shikamaru jabbed Kiba after finding him hiding near the slide.

Kiba rubbed his rib cage, “What the heck dude?”

It was hard to imagine they were friends.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “Tell your new friend to come out.”

“You mean I didn’t win?” Kiba scrunched up his face. I thought he didn’t like winning.

“Naruto,” Shikamaru ignored Kiba.

I jumped down carefully. My hair tended to get caught on twigs and branches. The leaves were unavoidable.

Kiba folded his arms over his chest, “You only won because you’re so small.”

I was unsure of how to respond. He was right, it was probably one of the reasons I wasn’t caught. But Shikamaru started speaking.

“Congratulations,” he drawled, “Do you want to be it?”   


It seemed unappealing, the children were all quite loud. And Shikamaru, the only one with silent footsteps, had a recognizably earthy smell. Almost like a meadow after a storm.

“No.”

Shikamaru scratched his neck lazily, “what a drag. You,” he pointed at one of the other kids, “You want to be it?”

It was a question, but it didn’t sound like one. I suppose it didn’t matter because the kid nodded.

The next two rounds I made sure they caught me in the middle, perfectly average. It seemed like it made Kiba happier, even though he said it was boring.

Shisui told me making people happy was nice.

It got dark quickly and all the kids went home.

I wasn’t sure how long I was supposed to have fun so I stayed a bit longer. Even though none of the other kids talked to me, I sat in the sand pit. The sand stayed warm even as the air cooled. The trees polarized the light and only streaks hit my legs but it felt nice against the chilly air.

There was some yelling behind me. I decided to continue moving my hands through the grains of sand. It was soothing. But there was a harsh kick on my back. It hurt. I had forgotten what that felt like. I forgot what it felt like for the matron to beat me.

“Hey, we were talking to you.”

I turned around to see four boys, probably two years older than me. I had never seen them before. 

“Ew, why do you look like that?”

The boy kicked me again but this time I fell backward. I wanted to leave, so I tried to stand up.

“Do you even have any emotions? It’s creepy.”

I’m not sure. Do I?

Another one of the boys pushed me back to the ground. I really wanted to leave, so I tried to get up faster. 

“Ugly freak,” a different boy kicked me, but I managed to stay up and started running.

“It’s the hair,” he grabbed my hair. It hurt a lot. I tried to grab my hair to make the pulling stop, but he pulled harder.

The other boys snickered, “It’s so long.”

“What are you? A girl?” another boy pulled my hair in a different direction. I really wanted to leave. But they just kept pulling. They kept yelling but my head hurt a lot. I couldn’t hear anything, I only felt the throbbing of my head. I really wanted to leave.

I really wanted to leave.

I really wanted to leave.

But they were pulling so hard. I closed my eyes. Chakra bubbled under my skin like ribbons swirling throughout my body. I just really want to leave.

My chakra was warm. It didn’t hurt. It made me feel safe. The red chakra, the Kyubi chakra was the warmest. 

I grabbed it. The chakra covered my body, I could feel the warm tingling, but it was hot, much hotter than before.

The pulling stopped. I opened my eyes, my body was covered in red chakra but it receded quickly. I looked behind me and the boys pulling my hair were crying and holding their hands as if they were burned. Probably because they were burned. 

But it didn’t matter. I could leave. So I did. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. 

I ran into my house but I didn’t stop, I couldn’t stop until I got to the bathroom. I threw up. But I still felt sick.

Looking into my reflection made me sick. I had scissors in the bathroom. They were for cutting nails, but it didn’t matter, they were sharp. So I cut my hair. It reached down to my knees, they were right, it was ugly. So I cut it. 

I heard my front door open. Someone was calling my name. But it didn’t matter. It was ugly, and I was going to cut it off. Even as the person calling my name became frantic. The bathroom door opened

“Naru- Naruto…” I could see Shisui’s reflection in the mirror. He took his mask off. It was hanging loosely from his hand.

“What are you doing…?” 

“I’m cutting my hair.”

He took the scissors out of my hands. I only finished cutting half my hair. It looked even worse than before. The hair I managed to cut reached my shoulder. 

Shisui took my hand and walked me to the kitchen and pushed me to sit in the chair. My shoulders hurt from where the other kid pushed me. I winced. Shisui moved around my house for a minute before coming back, a regular pair of scissors in hand with a brush and a small trash can.

“What happened?”

“I wanted to cut my hair.”

Shisui paused and craned my neck to the side. I felt more than saw the slowly forming yellow bruise where my neck met my shoulder. 

“Did someone hurt you?”

I nodded. Shisui said lying was bad, even if humans do it all the time.

“Who?” he was more forceful this time.

“People on the playground.”

I heard the small snipping sounds of the scissors behind my head. With every snip, my head felt lighter.

“They said I was ugly…”

“You’re the cutest kid I’ve ever seen,” Shisui held out a hand to me, “You want to see?”

He took me back into the bathroom. My hair was no longer on the floor.

“See? Doesn’t matter what length it is, you have beautiful hair.” 

I looked in the mirror. My hair was now chin-length, curling at the ends.

And my eyes started watering, I don’t know why but I couldn’t help it. But Shisui didn’t scold or hit me. And I _knew_ he wouldn't. Shisui wouldn't do that.

But I was so used to it. 

He hugged me, and it made my skin burn. 

“You said you’d cook for me the next time I came back right? Are you still up to it?”

I really wanted to. I really wanted to make him happy.

\---

When Naruto met Tsunade at her residency, Jiraiya was already there, an unexpected occasion no doubt.

The sage grinned, waved excitedly at Naruto who bowed his head in greeting.

“Hey kiddo, how’s-”

“You cut your hair,” Tsunade shouted, eyes wide in surprise.

Jiraiya nodded, “I knew something looked different,” he whispered.

Tsunade turned to Jiraiya, “Shut it,” then back to Naruto, “What happened? Are you ok? It looks good by the way.”

Naruto clasped a cold hand to his heating cheek, “Thank you. I didn’t want it long anymore.”

Tsunade was unconvinced, “Ok… anyway!” Tsunade handed him a folder, his medical history, “I got last week’s samples back, so now, I can confirm that your chakra system is ready to intake medical chakra.”

“Thank you for your guidance,” Naruto gripped the folder harder.

“Yeah well that was basically the last step,” Tsunade smiled softly, petting Naruto’s hair, “You’re fully cleared, you can live your life the way you want now.”

Somehow that didn’t make Naruto happy, it sounded like a goodbye. 

Jiraiya gave Naruto a rough pat on the back, “Don’t worry, we’ll stick around. Can’t get rid of us that easily.”

_ Was Jiraiya a mind reader? _

“Are you done too?” Naruto’s face didn’t change but his knuckles were turning white.

“Well, I finished all the tests I needed to do a while ago,” Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. All he had to do really was see how Naruto’s chakra interacted with the seal in different amounts, “Unless you contacted Kyubi?” Naruto shook his head, “Or any other developments?”

“Yes,” One of Naruto’s hands subconsciously lifted to play with his hair, “The red chakra covered my body.”

Jiraiya’s eyes widened, “By itself?” it was the closest someone could come to shouting without shouting.

“No. I did it by accident.”

Jiraiya relaxed just a smidge, “I may not be the best person to say this, but that was reckless-”

“I am,” Tsunade cut in, throwing a worried glance between her teammate and the blond, “What happened? I know you’re more responsible than that.”

Naruto didn’t say anything, just stared at the folder in his hands. After a moment he opened his mouth. But Jiraiya spoke, “It doesn’t matter. Are you ok?”

Naruto nodded.

“Ok good,” Jiraiya held up a hand to Tsunade preemptively, “can you try to repeat what you did?”

Naruto closed his eyes while Tsunade argued with Jiraiya and the red chakra cloak flickered on and off, finally stabilizing for a few seconds before disappearing entirely. 

Jiraiya nodded, thoroughly impressed. The malicious chakra that came with a loss of control wasn’t there. That meant Naruto had full control of that chakra, “Usually it takes years of training with biju chakra to do that, but I guess, with your situation it shouldn’t be entirely surprising.”

The potency of that chakra was unparalleled. Tsunade was temporarily pacified but kept a watchful eye on the situation.

“Try doing something,” Jiraiya pushed, “normal chakra.”

Naruto obeyed, doing the first thing that came to mind, a single hand sign, and the grass bled red.

“Genjutsu?” Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

Naruto nodded, “I read about it,” and then asked Shishui about it because the book was about the history of the Uchiha clan but Shisui liked to stay secret so Naruto said nothing.

“Well," Jiraiya bobbed his head appreciatively, “No matter,” he formed his hands into a seal, “kai,’ and it took more chakra than it should have to break out considering Naruto was not even an academy student.

“Not bad kid,” Tsunade ruffled the silky blond locks.

“Try it with the Kyubi chakra,” Jiraiya took a step away from the burning heat the red cloak emitted.

Same Jutsu but this time Jiraiya had to focus and get help from Tsunade and her amazing chakra control to make the grass green again.

“You keep surprising us,” Jiraiya smiled fondly. But Naruto still couldn’t carve out the pit in his stomach.

\---

Hiruzen opened what he hoped would be the last file on Naruto.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were standing on the other side of his desk. 

“You probably have figured out most of the report already,” The blonde kunoichi started, “But I’ll give you a brief summary. His chakra has adapted to have healing properties. Jiraiya trained with him to use the Kyubi chakra and his own chakra separately. He can completely cloak himself in chakra, Kyubi, or otherwise, probably because of how distributed his chakra is around his body. I researched the effects but I’ll discuss those later.”

Tsunade flipped through pages, identical to the ones the Hokage was holding, “The defect, unsurprisingly, is that he doesn’t have a lot of chakra that he can channel from one place. It's a very potent chakra, especially the closer it is to his body, but it seems like he will not be able to perform most ninjutsu.”

Jiraiya interjected, “But he can still transfer chakra into other objects. He is proficient in seals and can make chakra strings-”

“Right,” Tsunade interrupted Jiraiya this time, glaring at him while doing so, “he can do Iryo Jutsu but just barely because of the amount of chakra it requires. He has the chakra control for it. So I taught him how to mix medicine,” Tsunade rambled, “Actually his chakra is still blue but it has stronger medicinal properties than even my chakra-”

“You were supposed to be studying him, not training him,” Hiruzen raised his hand to stop the barrage of information.

“But sensei-” Tsunade tried to argue but Jiraiya cut her off.

“He’s a curious kid,” Tsunade jabbed her elbow in his rib cage but Jiraiya kept talking, “He asks a lot of questions, so we told him what he wanted to know, nothing more and nothing less. He’s just a fast learner."

Hiruzen sighed and massaged his temples, but let out a small relieved smile, “talented kid huh. We’ve got a genius on our hands.”

Tsunade smirked, ready to praise the cute blond until Jiraiya interrupted her  _ again, _ and she was going to snap at him for real this time until she heard what he said.

“Talents’ got nothing to do with it,” Jiraiya shook his head and folded his arms over his chest in a grand gesture, “The kid just works harder than anyone else.”

Tsunade couldn’t stop the fond smile on her face despite how much she wanted to punch Jiraiya in the face.

Hiruzen nodded laughing slightly, “I’m not surprised to hear that from you,” He faced Tsunade, “You mentioned the chakra cloak?”

“Right,” Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, daring him to talk but he just put his hands up in surrender, “When he used his own chakra, the cloak glows blue and it’s kind of like a barrier and heals faster than normal. The purple one lets him use jutsu to some extent, but because of the yin chakra, it’s mostly genjutsu and the like. Actually, he’s really good at genjutsu even though Jiraiya and I haven’t taught him anything-”

Hiruzen coughed into his hand, not needing a gushing Tsunade in his office.

“Right, the red cloak is basically a biju cloak, it burns anything it touches.”

“Is that dangerous? What about the Kyubi?”

“Ahem,” Jiraiya coughed, smirking at Tsunade, “this is my area of expertise, so I can say that there is no problem there. Usually it would mean the Kyubi has taken over but in this case, because the mind seal is fully intact, there is no influence when using it’s chakra. Oh,” Jiraiya hit his palm against his hand, “And the body seal, there’s no real problem there either, it probably just weakened as a result of the chakra influx, making Naruto’s body more compatible and similar to the Kyubi’s.”

Hiruzen looked horrified.

“It’s not bad or anything,” Jiraya waved his hands, “just sharper senses and chakra sensing. If anything, it just brought out his Uzumaki traits more”

Hiruzen shook his head, “as long as he’s safe.”

“Actually,” Tsunade said carefully, “It’s our recommendation Naruto becomes a ninja.”

“Why?” Hiruzen’s eyes were wide and he looked truly stupefied, “is that even safe… He’s so small.”

“Well, it’s true that the muscle atrophy will probably never fully heal, especially in his arms. He won’t be able to become that strong,” this time it was Jiraiya’s turn to elbow Tsunade, “But he is very quick on his feet. As a medic, dodging is the most important skill and he’s good at that. And he has a bunch of other skills. He’s interested in it and it would be a shame to not use that… and you know he has the best chance of being accepted by other shinobi.”

“Ok, ok, fine, I’ll ask Naruto, but I’m not forcing him into anything, you understand?”

The duo nodded. 

“And I swear if he gets hurt,”

“Hai Sensei, don’t worry we’ll stick around for a bit longer to help the kid out,” Jiraiya soothed, “But you know we have to get back to work soon, it’s been months already.”

Hiruzen nodded slowly, “You’re dismissed.”

\---

The Hokage called me to his office again even though my tests were technically finished. I should, therefore, be of no use to him, but he was still nice to me. 

“Jiji?”

The Hokage smiled and waved to me, “Come sit.”

“Now Naruto, I have an important question but don’t feel pressured. Would you like to become a shinobi?”

A shinobi… I had never thought about it. It felt unreal, like a legend. Even as I learned about them from Tsunade and Jiraiya. But Tsunade was a ninja, so was Jiraiya and Shisui and the Hokage. And they were all the nicest people I knew. Maybe being a ninja made people nicer or maybe nice people became ninja. 

I wanted to be nice.

So I answered yes like I always did.

“Are you sure?”

What else could I? Being a shinobi looked like it made money. Tsunade had a really big house. I like to cook but I doubt I could attract customers. Gardening didn’t seem very profitable either.

“Yes.”

The Hokage sighed and I’m not sure if it was in worry or relief, “Ok, I’ll sign you up immediately. Sorry for the late notice, but it starts next month.”   


“It’s ok. I don’t have plans.”

“I know, that’s not… nevermind,” he smiled warmly… Jiji had a really kind smile, “Just do your best ok? And come to me if you need anything, right Naruto?”

“Yes, Jiji.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for disappointing long hair Naru fans. I won't stop you from imagining though. Maybe he's just more of a bob cut Naruto?
> 
> Also, I just wanted to mention that from here on out, the story is mostly told in third-person with first-person snip-its. This is the first thing I've ever written in first-person and it was kind of just an experiment. I do like how the first few chapters turned out, but I think the first-person narration becomes increasingly unnecessary as the plot moves forwards. Just a heads up. 
> 
> thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Moving On

Naruto had no express feelings about going to school. Neither excitement nor disappointment. He had bits and pieces of experiences with the education system stemming from what he had seen through his box. Learning was the only liberation from boredom Naruto had back then. Even now it wasn’t too different. Naruto would not be going back to the playground, Hiruzen wasn’t always readily available and the streets of Konoha, in a social sense, resembled a ghost town. Naruto studied before the academy and he would continue to do so with or without it.

Of course, he had read in a psychological study which reported that above else, school was fundamental in establishing proper social behavior in children but that information was in the back of his mind. The report was quite dry and the same day Naruto poured over a manual on how to tie complex knots. Needless to say, knots occupied more space in his thoughts than research reports.

So the vague emptiness Naruto felt entering the class that day was anything but surprising. Naruto came right on time only to see most of the people already in a seat. That would not do, Naruto would come earlier the next day.

Kiba, who sat with a fierce grin, waved at Naruto. The blond didn’t have a chance to react before Kiba’s attention was pulled away by another equally fierce-looking brunette. The only other person Naruto recognized was Shikamaru. The briskly put-together ponytail was a clear giveaway. The boy was sleeping, an Akamachi clan member next to him.

Naruto chose not to disturb the boy he had only talked to once, instead, sitting in an empty row, right by the window. Yes, Naruto was now quite sure, school would not provide him a new social foundation. Either way, it was still an incredible coincidence he would end up in a class with the only two people Naruto knew that were his age. Even if “knew” may have been an overstatement.

A teacher with black hair and no other particularly distinguishable features walked into the classroom. They would be starting off the year with geometry. Squares. Not much to it all but Naruto took diligent notes. But there was only so much repetition one could take. Naruto’s eye drifted to the window. If Naruto squinted, it felt like the box all over again. It felt like he was completely alone again. Only now, instead of a bunch of small holes Naruto could peek out through, it was a massive glass screen. Instead of thin streaks of dusty sunlight, the burning light poured over him in waves.

The feeling was the same though. Even the view was similar. Bright red flowers hung from a massive bush, hummingbirds flapping furiously. Yes, the only difference, it seemed, between back then and now, was that now, Naruto knew hummingbirds, in fact, did not flap their wings. Instead, hummingbirds moved their wings in a circular motion. He read that in a bird encyclopedia.

No one had noticed that Naruto was no longer paying attention. It was only when their break started that Naruto’s eyes moved from the window. He brought a book, just in case that boredom began to itch at his wrists again. A history book. Maybe Naruto’s favorite kind of book. This particular one was about the political history of Demon country. And Naruto went home knowing more about Demon country than he would ever know about geometry.

The next day, Kiba didn’t bother waving, and somehow, that did surprise Naruto. He sincerely doubted one day would be enough to cement a long-lasting relationship. But still, it seemed Naruto had overestimated the shackles of good-natured politeness.

And when Shisui came over at the end of the week with take-out dango and asked Naruto if he had made tons of friends yet, Naruto said no with little thought behind his words. Shisui seemed much more affected by it than Naruto was.

“I’m friends with the brother of a kid who should be in your class,” Shisui mumbled out through the food, “Name’s Sasuke, you know him?”

Naruto nodded slowly, after all, who didn’t know Sasuke. He was the favorite, from teachers to students. He was also the best, top of the class. It didn’t make sense because every experience told Naruto that people didn’t like show-offs, but also the more he observed, the more Naruto came to conclude, humans were terribly inconsistent. Sasuke himself seemed pleasant if not hard to approach, but an otherwise fine, normal human being. 

However, Naruto’s slow nod must have looked unsure because Shisui set his food down and leveled a look at Naruto, “Did he do something to you?”

Naruto shook his head no, “I’ve never talked to him.”

“I’ll talk to his brother. Itachi listens to me and Sasuke listens to Itachi.”

Naruto shook his head again, “You seem removed from the situation.”

Shisui waved his hand dismissively, “Are you just nervous?” he teased.

Naruto ignored him altogether this time, his head tired of shaking so much, “Who’s Itachi?”

Shisui raised an eyebrow, “Jealous?”

Naruto’s expression could be best described as impassive. Possibly unamused, but that implied Naruto could have found the situation amusing to begin with, which was simply impossible. 

“... Nevermind,” Shisui chuckled to himself, “he’s the clan heir to the Uchiha family. Good kid and a good ninja, the clan is in fine hands if he steps up to it.”

“You sound like the elderly women that shop at the morning market,” Naruto would know, he goes on early Monday mornings, the same time that a local grocer offers a senior discount. When Shisui looked thoughtful at the table, finished eating, Naruto started clearing the table and throwing away the disposable tableware. But Shisui didn’t speak, it was a long silence. A silence that rarely stuck around Shisui. Naruto turned around to look at the Anbu pensively.

“You are quiet,” Naruto stated, not knowing what to fill the vacuous void with. 

“It’s a first,” Shisui tried to laugh at his own joke. Naruto didn’t even bristle, “I feel old,” Shisui sighed, a hand covering his face. His expression morphed into a sober one instead of his usual cheerfulness. Naruto walked to Shisui’s side and looked up at him. The Anbu in turn glanced down at the blond.

“I feel… worried. Why?”

“It’s called empathy. It’s a good thing,” Shisui patted Naruto’s head, “you’re learning.”

“Does that mean you feel worried?”

“It’s ok, I’ll deal with it,” Shisui heaved his body up.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I gotta meet with Itachi tomorrow. Don’t get too jealous, you're still the cutest kid I know,” he waved lazily before leaving.

Despite the reassurance, Naruto’s muscles remained coiled, food sitting at the bottom of his stomach.

The next day Naruto did actually really try to get in a word with Sasuke but the impervious cloud of people that surrounded Sasuke was really a force to be fearful of.

\---

It had been a while since Shisui visited me. Longer than any other time in recent memory, but maybe I just got too used to a good thing.

I could return to that box anytime. I’m sure boxes like mine weren’t hard to come by. And if it was the same matron or not, it didn’t matter, if Jiji or Tsunade or Jiraiya wanted me to be back in my box, I would be back there. 

And yet, from past experience if nothing else, I knew that Shisui wouldn’t do that. Because it would be inconsistent.

Humans were inconsistent, but Shisui wouldn't do that. 

But today the front door did open and Shisui walked inside, quieter than usual. He sat down without a sound.

“I made teriyaki salmon.”

“...My favorite,” Shisui smiled a little, “And two portions, what are the odds?”

The odds were high considering I had made two portions of that same dish for the entire past week just in case Shisui came back. When he didn’t come, I saved his plate and ate it for lunch the next day. It tasted gross by now. It was also expensive but I knew when to buy salmon to get a good discount.

I didn’t say any of that because he didn’t need to know that. I think he knew anyway. Shisui knew everything.

We ate in silence. It was very unusual. But Shisui did speak eventually, “Something bad is going to happen.”

“And I want you to be prepared.”

“Prepared that I might not come back.”

“Naruto, I think I’m going to die,” then he was still.

What?

I didn’t want him to die. It didn’t even make sense because Shisui couldn’t die. He was so strong and smart and he was Shisui.

It was silent until he stood, “Sorry, I should go.”

But I didn’t want him to go. I grabbed his hand before he could leave. I felt the cold dark sting of empathy. Because Shisui’s face was blank but his hand was shaking. So I held onto it. Even when he sat back down, I didn’t let go. That ugly pink and yellow chair looked better with Shisui sitting there. I didn’t know what to say to make him feel better so I didn’t say anything at all.

_ Empathy, _ that’s what Shisui called it. But in reality, I couldn’t understand his feelings at all. He shouldn’t look blank, he shouldn’t sound resigned. I don’t think I’ll ever understand his emotions. I don’t think I could ever feel them like he does. 

After a few minutes he laughed, “I’m ok,” he pet my hair with the hand I wasn’t holding.

“You didn’t finish eating.”

He just kept laughing and it made my heart race painfully; I didn’t like it. Shisui picked up his fork, “You’re right.”

He started eating again and I considered letting go of his hand but he was gripping my hands as hard as I was holding his. 

“My clan is planning a coup d'etat.”

That sounded bad, so I told him that and he agreed. 

“The Hokage knows.”

“Then who’s going to kill you?”

“Do you know a man named Danzo?” 

I did not.

“He is Hokage-sama’s counselor. He doesn’t think Hokage-sama’s plan of appeasement will work.”

That didn’t answer a lot of my questions but Shisui didn’t look excited to explain it all. I decided not to ask.

“I can help.”

“I wish you could,” He smiled, but it wasn’t warm, it was sad and haunting, “But I don’t think you're quite strong enough yet.”

“What about Itachi?”

Shisui shook his head, “I can’t drag him into this, not yet at least. It is his family that’s the problem. I need to at least try to do this alone.”

Then why tell me? I couldn’t do anything. Shisui was the closest thing I had to the families I read about.

“Danzo has a lot of power. Maybe he’s starting to realize that,” Shisui was looking at the wall. Maybe he wasn’t telling me anything. Maybe he was just speaking to the world.

I was trying to sort through the bit and pieces of information I knew, it seemed like a hopeless situation. But I didn’t tell him that. 

I didn’t want to be useless. I was supposed to help him like he helped me. I couldn’t do much, but I could make seals. I didn’t have seals that stopped clan revolts or even death, but I had a seal that replenished chakra reserves, and maybe that would be enough. So I let go of his shaking hand and got him the seal.

Shisui took it out of my hands slowly, “Did you make this?”

“Jiraiya-sensei taught me.”

“Jiraiya huh?” Shisui mumbled, “It’s really impressive, thanks… could you make me something else?”

“I’m a beginner.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he rolled his eyes and smiled. It seemed a bit less tight this time, “A disintegration seal?”

“Yes,” purely destructive seals were easy to make. 

“Can you draw it on my eye?”

“No.”

“Naruto,” he grabbed my shoulders, “I really need this.”

“You will go blind immediately.”

He leaned back in the chair. Blank.    


“I could try to draw a seal on your finger and link it to your eye. But I’m not sure if it will work. It won't make you blind.”

“How sure are you?”

“70%”

“That more than half,” Shisui nodded in approval, “do it.”

So I followed his instructions. And I’ve never felt worse. I never felt like this in the box, and especially not around Shisui.

“This finger is for the right eye, this one is for the left. You need to swipe blood over it and then send chakra to it. Then your eye will disintegrate.”

It sounded terribly painful. My hands felt clammy. Was this what death felt like? Was I dying? I felt like I was dying. I didn’t want Shisui to have those seals. But I wanted to help him.

“Will you eat with me next week?” I really didn’t want Shisui to leave. Was that selfish?

Shisui didn’t answer for a second, staring at the clock hanging on the wall. But he smiled down at me and even hugged me. That was odd. Shisui wasn’t touchy like Tsunade. But it felt nice.

“Sure, but I’ll bring the food, so no need to cook for me, ok?”

I nodded.

“With this seal,” He held out my chakra replenishing seal proudly, as if he made it, “I wouldn’t dare lose.”

It was Shisui and I believed Shisui. I always believed Shisui, why would I stop?

So I waited until next week. And I knew, logically speaking, a chakra replenishing seal wasn’t going to save his life. But Shisui said he would come back. 

He didn’t come over. Shisui usually came over at six and it was past seven so I decided to just wait. And I finally, just barely felt his chakra flicker in somewhere near my house. But he didn’t go to my house. 

My hands were clammy again. My eyes burned, I don’t know why. Everything hurt. So I followed Shisui. He was the only one who could make everything stop hurting.

\---

Shisui was bleeding heavily from one eye. Danzo really did attack him and take his eye. It was a small but glorious victory to see Danzo’s face twist from satisfaction to confusion to seething hatred as that prized eyeball turned to dust in his hand.

Shisui really wished he could thank Naruto but he knew it would make the blond more miserable than happy, and he was already going to make one person’s life miserable tonight. Blood splashed onto the ground as he ran, and it really did hurt, but soon he would be dead anyway.

Itachi joined Shisui in a field near a steep cliff within minutes. As to be expected of a great ninja. Shisui explained his missing eye and Itachi took it all with a relatively calm face. But even the Uchiha clan’s genius felt emotions. 

“He’s going to come after my left eye, so I want to make sure he doesn’t get the chance… but you’ll need to be stronger too for what’s to come,” Shisui was rambling, all the thoughts smashing together in his head. He knew two things. He was going to die, throw himself off that cliff behind him. And Naruto and Itachi would be miserable but it was the only way. And he probably wasn’t making any sense by now because his heart hurt so much but what else could he do? 

“Shisui?” Itachi stepped forward, truly concerned now, but his face was still passive.

“If you’re truly my friend,” Shisui took a step backward. He had blood on his finger and was getting ready to channel his chakra. 

“Don’t stop me,” Shisui’s body started falling into the canyon. His senses went into overdrive and time slowed to a crawl. In that moment, Shisui felt everything. The light of the moon on the left side of his face. The wind rubbing against the patches of dried blood on his arm. The grains of dirt that snuck into his shoes.

And he felt that something wasn’t entirely right. Shisui’s single eye scanned the trees behind Itachi, and there he was, the petite blond standing in the tree line. Naruto’s hands were clamped down over his mouth. His body was completely rigid and his face showed more emotion than Shisui had ever seen before.

“Naruto,” Shisui’s voice came out as a whisper 

His resolve crumbled, if there was anyone who didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve more pain in their life, it was Naruto. He didn’t want Naruto to know this was how he died. Naruto shouldn’t- couldn’t see this.

But his body was already falling. Shisui reached out his hand, trying to grasp onto Itachi’s outstretched arm, one last desperate attempt to save himself. But he missed.

It was too late. 

So Shisui channeled chakra into his finger and the second eyeball was destroyed. 

Itachi’s eyes were bleeding profusely. His Mangekyo Sharingan activated. His best friend just committed suicide.

His best friend just committed suicide…

And it was all burned into his memory. Itachi’s eye’s flickered wildly, remembering every detail. Every painful detail.

Itachi was just barely containing himself. Pupils dilated, hands balled into fists. Shisui committed- his mind couldn’t finish the thought without bursting in pain. It  _ hurt _ . Why did it hurt this much?

Itachi turned around, hands gripping his stinging head, trying to find whatever made Shisui stick his hand out. Who made Shisui change his mind. All he could see through the blood was blond hair and a small, disappearing back. 

Maybe Itachi would have gone after him but the pain was relentless. Itachi passed out before he had the chance.

So Naruto just kept walking, robotically. Like his body was moving on its own. And in a very literal sense, it was, because his mind was completely blank. So his body just moved, weaving through the trees until he made it to a clearing. It was close enough to the village that he could see the flickering lights but far enough away that no one would be in the area. Or so Naruto hoped. 

Naruto crashed as soon as he sat down. His body curled into the smallest ball it could. His head was tucked in between his knees and chest and he was sobbing so hard his shoulder jerked violently. It was physically painful, but Naruto couldn’t stop the deep gasps of breath he took. His lungs burnt and he could only smell blood. 

_ Shisui’s blood. _

Because Shisui was  _ dead _ . But that didn’t make sense. Naruto had seen Shisui just a week ago. And more before then. And Shisui had been healthy. And Naruto was supposed to see him this week and next week and the week after that. So it just didn’t make sense that he was  _ dead _ . That wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Shisui was supposed to be  _ alive _ . With him, with Naruto, eating dinner, like always.

Even when he heard his name, the blond couldn’t think.

“Naruto? Is that you?"

Shikamaru walked closer to the pathetic ball. He had been passing by, having fallen asleep while cloud watching and now walking home before his parents sent out a search party to find him.

“Naruto?” Shikamaru sat next to the blond. Because Shikamaru may have been lazy but he cared about people. 

It was hard to see in the dark, but the blond hair was a dead giveaway. Shikamaru hadn’t met anyone with hair just like Naruto’s.

“Hey, you ok man?” Shikamaru was really starting to grow concerned and placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. Only then did Shikamaru feel the extreme tremors shaking Naruto’s body.

But no matter how much he called out, the blond remained tightly coiled and crying. So Shikamaru just sat there. After a while, the shaking stopped and so did the crying. Shikamaru looked over and saw the blond had passed out. Shikamaru wanted to mumble about the pain this would be, but honestly, he was more relieved than anything. And when he heaved the blond onto his back, the extra weight was almost negligible. Naruto was ridiculously light.

Shikamaru’s house was close by, so it wasn’t  _ too _ much a problem. 

Naruto lifted his head slightly off the taller boy’s shoulder, “Shisui?” his voice was groggy and confused.

“Oh… Shikamaru?”

“Yeah.”

Naruto was silent for a minute, probably assessing the situation, “Sorry… I can walk.”

“It’s fine,” Shikamaru refused, “It’d be a pain if you slowed us down anyway.”

Naruto didn’t answer and let his eyes fall closed again but he didn’t go to sleep. He couldn’t go to sleep. Because every time his mind got closer to the edge of relief, Shisui’s face would appear again. 

Shikamaru didn’t say anything either, instead, he walked to the front door of the compound. It opened before Shikamaru even had the chance to knock and his father was standing on the other side. Shikaku looked like he really wanted to say something, but as soon as he saw the blond, the elder man’s mouth formed an “O” and he let Shikamaru inside. 

“Should I bring your dinner up?”

Shikamaru shook his head, trying to be careful even if the blond wasn’t sleeping. Shikamaru was too tired to eat. 

He set Naruto down on his bed and left to change. When Shikamaru came back Naruto was sitting on the floor, staring intently at his hands. 

“Thank you. I’ll leave,” it was so quiet Shikamaru strained to hear it. 

“It’s fine, you can spend the night. I already carried you here.”

Naruto nodded without looking up. Shikamaru started laying out the spare tatami mat, “Who’s Shisui?”

Shikamaru asked mostly for conversation's sake. 

“He was my only friend.”

Shikamaru was surprised by how straightforward the answer was. Naruto was normally really closed off, it was like he was constantly thinking but never said anything.

“Was? Is he dead?” maybe the tact was lacking. But kids weren’t known for tact and ultimately, Shikamaru was curious.

“Yes.”

“How did he die?” Shikamaru didn’t want to be insensitive, but Naruto was answering; it was a first. And Naruto was just as surprised as Shikamaru, or at least he would be, but his brain was so mushed up, he couldn’t even think anymore. And, in a weird way, it was cathartic, talking through it. 

“He killed himself.”

Shikamaru’s eyes widened slightly, “Were you…”

Naruto’s mouth just moved robotically, “I saw it.”

“Sorry,” Shikamaru mumbled. He wanted to say something like ‘it’s not your fault’ or ‘he must have had his reasons’ but Shikamaru really didn’t know the situation and either option sounded so ingenuine. Then there was the fact that Naruto was clearly on auto-pilot. Shikamaru hadn’t comforted anyone before but it was common sense that the person had to be there to be comforted. 

“What was he like?” Shikamaru settled on a question just as he finished setting up the mat.

Naruto crawled inside quickly and laid down. He was facing away from Shikamaru, “He was really nice… he carried me on his back when I fell asleep in the woods. That’s how I met him.”

\---

Shikamaru only woke up when the alarm clock went off and it was with a long groan and extreme annoyance.

“Should I turn it off?”

“Eh?” Shikamaru’s body jolted forward, “Oh, Naruto… yah sure,” he waved and slowly slid off the bed, “thanks for the-uh-tatami mat.”

Naruto cleaned it up while waiting for Shikamaru to wake up. He nodded at Shikamaru and stood.

“Thank you,” he bowed at a 45° angle just like Shisui said. Shisui was always right… But Shisui wasn’t here anymore…

“It’s fine,” Shikamaru’s voice drawled, “It wasn’t that much of a pain. Do you need the bathroom?”

Naruto shook his head, having gone to wash off the crusted over teardrops earlier.

“Alright well,” Shikamaru scratched his head, “My parents should be gone already so you can go eat and I’ll meet you there.”

Naruto nodded and followed his directions, the house was large but the layout was simple. In the kitchen, there were two covered plates, both a beautifully set tray with rice, miso soup, and seaweed.

Naruto ate like Shikamaru told him and Shikamaru came down after a few minutes. He stretched his arms and looked peevish as per usual. 

“I should’ve known she’d do this,” he mumbled while looking at the food, “women are troublesome,” Shikamaru sat down and ate quickly.

Naruto was confused. The only woman he knew presently was Tsunade and she wasn’t troublesome. But Naruto’s mouth was sealed shut.

“She would never cook something like this if we didn’t have guests over,” Shikamaru answered Naruto’s unspoken question. And that made naruto even more confused because he hadn’t said anything. So Naruto sat, perfectly frozen and suspicious.

“You have pretty clear tells,” he answered again.  _ Was Shikamaru a mind reader too? _

“What?” Naruto was lost the minute their conversation started.

“You pause and stare at things when you’re curious.”

Naruto didn’t know what to say at that. The one thing he could reliably control, his own body, his awareness, even that was not fully graspable.

“You should just speak your mind.”

“...Ok.”

But Naruto didn't really want to. Monsters could have strange thoughts, “What if it’s weird?”

“Weird how?”

Something that had been weighing in his mind heavily, something before Shishui’s de- were the odd religious beliefs of distant countries, “Why would Valley country have so many ocean gods when it’s a completely land-locked country?” Was that a normal thought? Naruto didn’t believe so based on the snippets of conversations he heard from other people.

“Eh? That is pretty troublesome… then just say what you want in front of me.”

“Would that make you happy?”

“I guess… sure.”

“Ok.”

“We better go,” Shikamaru stood up and brought his tray over the counter, leaving it there. Naruto followed him, “School is a pain but being late would be a pain too.”

Naruto always left much earlier, living farther away. So the blond told him that.

“Yeah but you’re usually early. If I were you I’d never show up, but my parents would kill me.”

“Kill you?”

“Not literally,” Shikamaru hunched over, “Well maybe my mom would.”

Naruto nodded and looked ahead at the path. The sun was beating down from the sky and it made his head hurt, but it wasn’t a headache. No, it felt like there was an elephant sitting on his head. So Naruto told Shikamaru that too. 

“It’s probably because you’re still sad.” 

“I wonder if Sasuke knows.”

“Was Shisui part of the Uchiha clan?”

Naruto nodded and stopped in front of the school doors.

“I doubt you’ll be able to find out. The girls in our class are so troublesome.”

Naruto followed Shikamaru into the classroom and sure enough, the cloud of people was in place. But it wasn’t just girls, it was everybody, all were there for different reasons. Sasuke talked animatedly with a few of the people but seemed pretty distant despite all the attention being on him.

Either way, Shikamaru was right, talking to Sasuke would be hard, if not impossible. And Naruto wasn’t sure what he would say anyway. Maybe it was just the desire to make sure people still remembered Shisui, that Naruto would still remember, but Naruto  _ wanted _ to talk to someone who knew Shisui. It was a daunting task.

So Naruto just sat where he usually did. They didn’t have permanent seats but it seemed it was expected that everyone sat in the same seats they did in the first week of school. Naruto followed them. Shikamaru wasn’t very far, but too far to talk to, so Naruto closed my mouth again.

But at lunch, Shikamaru slid into the seat next to Naruto and plopped down a cloth bag with rice balls.

The blond was surprised, so he told Shikamaru that.

Shikamaru shrugged, “Shouldn't be. It’s my fault you didn’t pack lunch.” 

It didn't sound very logical but logic seemed like Shikamaru's strong point so Naruto couldn't question it.

But the next day he sat next to Naruto even though the blond brought lunch. When Naruto asked why Shikamaru just said it would be a drag to find a different place to sit.

Naruto asked why that made him feel happy and Shikamaru said friends made people happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, college tests and such. But yeah here's the chapter and the next one should be on time next week. Hope y'all enjoy the feverish misery I put you through.
> 
> Thanks for reading and reviewing and all that extra stuff, it really does make me feel happy that people think my story is worth engaging with.


	5. Death and Tragedy

Shikamaru said they were friends and that made Naruto feel happy, but then why couldn’t he stop thinking about Shisui? Shisui always made him so happy, so why did thinking about Shisui make him sad? And with Shisui gone, the ugly pink and yellow chair served no purpose. So he should get rid of it. But he couldn’t, it was Shisui’s chair and Naruto couldn’t touch it.

Shisui visited Naruto on Fridays most often. And now he was alone. Shikamaru had a family but Naruto’s family was gone. So he went to the Uchiha compound, on the far outskirts of town. It was large and obviously wealthy. And yet, it too looked lonely. Hidden away from the rest of Konoha, barricaded behind walls Naruto wasn’t allowed behind.

The coup that Shisui talked about, it made a bit more sense. It was as if everything about those walls radiated fear. But at the same time, it made no sense at all, because to Naruto, it looked like the Uchiha had it all, wealth, prestige, and family. Not to even mention there was none of that battle preparation one would expect. No extra kunai or seals or revolution winning weapons. Even the Uchiha would fail against Konoha’s numbers.

And Naruto would have known if things were going on inside. Tsunade, early on in their testing period, explained to Naruto that he had virtually no presence. His cells were so thoroughly soaked with chakra and without a coherent chakra network, to a sensor, Naruto’s presence was equal to that of a tree or a body of water. Totally innocuous. 

So that meant with a simple invisibility jutsu, Naruto could watch over the Uchiha compound, completely unnoticed. The singular flaw to it all was that the genjutsu was disrupted when Naruto touched another human being. But overlooking the Uchiha compound was unhelpful unless Naruto was trying to learn about Uchiha architecture. Similar to Hyuuga architecture but more modernized and with greater influence from traditional Shintoism. But Naruto was not studying architecture.

And if the Uchiha compound wasn't going to give him information, Naruto would go straight to the source, The Hokage and his counselor.

And finally, in a room that felt much smaller than it was, Naruto learned everything he needed to. Danzo, The Hokage, Itachi, we're all in the same room as him, and yet it felt like they were all separated by a thin curtain.

Itachi wanted the safety of his family, Danzo wanted security in power and the Hokage wanted them all to come out alive. Those all sounded compatible to Naruto, so why couldn't they agree.

"The Uchiha don't feel respected anymore. They are scared to lose power," Itachi, in his Anbu mask and cloak looked so similar to Shisui. He was hard to look at.

Danzo scoffed, "they hold a seat on the war council, they are a founding clan, and have sole police power. What else do they want?"

Danzo, Naruto was quite positive he was the man behind Shisui's death. And yet looking at the aged councilor made Naruto feel nothing but regret.

Itachi was silent, hesitant, "They have noticed the small number of ninjas who hold high ranking positions and-"

"You want us to give promotions to poor-performing ninjas solely off heritage?" Danzo's cane beat against the ground.

Itachi looked at the Hokage. Hiruzen was silent. Why, in his own office, did the Hokage seem like the one with the least control?

Itachi proceeded, "And they are angered by the move to rebuild the Uchiha compound on the outskirts of Konoha."

"It was for their own protection," Danzo glared.

And this time Itachi didn't hesitate, voice monotonous, "it was to isolate them."

Danzo was red. Hiruzen held up one hand, leaning back in his chair, "remember, counselor Danzo, Itachi is just reporting. Yelling at him is useless."

Another scoff, "yelling at anyone is useless, diplomacy is useless, we have been patient long enough, it is time to act."

The meeting was adjourned with no final decisions made. 

Danzo left and Itachi followed without a word between them. So Naruto too, followed. They walked until they made it to an empty part of the tower Naruto had never seen before.

Danzo stopped, facing the wall in front of him. Itachi bowed. 

“I’ll give you two options: stick with your clan and have them all massacred, or kill them all yourself."

Itachi didn't say anything. And it really didn't matter what his answer was.

As long as Danzo was alive, he would see to it that the Uchiha were killed. But killing Danzo was equally physically and politically unviable. 

In either option, it would be a lot of death. And that wasn't what Shisui wanted. Shisui always said protecting people was more important than loyalty. But how could you protect everyone?

\---

If it was true the Uchiha felt disrespected, Naruto couldn’t do much about that. He tries, starting positive rumors about the clan, but ultimately, Naruto wasn’t a people person, what happened with those rumors, he could not know. Either way, they would not stop Danzo from acting. And if it was true that the Uchiha wanted high ranking ninjas in the system, that was also impossible for Naruto. So he talked to The Hokage. Hiruzen there was nothing he could do quickly, there weren’t many Uchiha to promote, and even then, it could take weeks. At the very least, he said he would try. And if the Uchiha didn’t like being isolated from the village there was nothing Naruto could do. Picking up some bricks and building them a whole new infrastructure wasn’t much of an option.

The last thing to do was monitor Itachi. Naruto even thought about talking to the man but it would probably be useless, Naruto wasn’t good with words. Not to mention finding Itachi was near impossible. His solution was to wait outside the walls of the compound right after school and late into the night.

It was cold and Naruto wasn’t even sure what he was doing by this point. As if him being there would change anything, Naruto could never win against Itachi. And he couldn’t help anyone either. Naruto slumped down against the wall and hid his face in his hands. He felt useless. What do you do against an inevitable genocide? And yet, he came the next day. Right after school like always.

It was a little over a week from when Naruto listened in on the conversation in the office. Itachi stood outside the gates of the compound, unmoving for several minutes. It was still early, five at the latest. Itachi had never done that before. It made Naruto’s chest squeeze up, it was today, Itachi would do it today.

Naruto had to do something. There were so many people inside, so many people who had never even heard of the coup. Naruto had to get them out. 

It was harder than it sounded. To even think anyone inside would listen to him was delusional. He had a couple of hours. That’s it. There had to be  _ something _ . Seals, genjutsu, herbs, something,  _ something _ Naruto could do. But there was no way any of it could ever work against the Uchiha clan, the Sharingan.

But not everyone unlocked their Sharingan yet. Naruto was on his feet and running before he could think. He wasn’t even able to finish a single coherent thought before another one burst in, a constant cycle, and Naruto’s head was hurting. But step one was clear. He could draw seals that linked the seal to his chakra. No time to get ink, blood would have to do. So that’s what he did, drawing swirling seals into the sides of buildings around the compound. His hand throbbed and his heart was pumping hectically in an effort to produce enough blood.

To cast a genjutsu over the entire compound. That was something he couldn’t do, he couldn’t stretch his chakra that thin, didn't have enough of it to begin with. But the seals would do all that for him. Still, the chakra consumption was immense. It would only work with a simple genjutsu, one that influenced the mind more than tricked it. 

It was dark when Naruto finished and his skin was glaringly pale from the blood loss. Cold sweat ran down his back but it didn’t matter. He had to do the genjutsu. And it was such a stupidly simple genjutsu, Naruto only learned it for the sake of having it. It made the victim want to go somewhere. The first place in their mind. Whether that be the store or a different country. The genjutsu worked in increments of time rather than with distance. It was hard to tell how long it would work, but a few hours should be doable.

From Naruto’s place in the trees, he could see people slowly piling out of the compound, Mostly children, but certain adults as well. But many adults remained. It hurt. A hope - Naruto knew was futile - had risen in him that fewer people would have the Sharingan. So many people would still die.

Maybe he could talk to Itachi, maybe Naruto still could help, maybe the Hokage could reason with them once more-

The thought died quickly.

Itachi was standing in front of the compound, on his right was a man with an orange mask that swirled outward from his eye. Naruto’s mouth clamped shut, his breathing stilled. Whoever it was behind the mask, they were strong. 

_ Madara. _ That was what Itachi called him. Impossible-

They were on the move. Itachi and Madara walked through the gates easily. As if it wasn’t about to be witness to a massacre.

Behind them, a few feet away, hid a group of Root Anbu. There was a mutual understanding, the Uchiha’s knew they were being followed and Anbu knew the pair could sense them. 

But their objectives were compatible. Itachi was here to kill the clan, the Root agents were here to make sure he fulfilled that.

Naruto didn't know what to do. He could hide, shield himself from the death. Or he could follow and needlessly watch. His feet carried him before Naruto could think. And he came to a stop right before Itachi decapitated the first man. Blood splattered. There was blood on his face. Naruto was crying. And he wasn’t even sure why. He didn’t know these people. Why did he feel sick? Why was he crying? Why were these people being killed? Why-

Naruto bit his lip until it drew blood. He couldn’t breathe, Madara would hear him. Naruto stood, rooted to the front entrance. Bodies fell around him.

The Root agents watched passively, staying out of the way but close by. How long had it been? Minutes? It felt like hours. As Itachi and Madara moved further away, the Root agents moved too, checking houses and beds and closets. They wanted everyone dead. Naruto didn’t go with them this time. There was too much blood already.

Then his breath hitched. Sasuke was getting close to the compound. He forgot about Sasuke. Itachi’s brother, Sasuke. 

If Naruto stopped Sasuke, his invisibility genjutsu would break. Sasuke was getting closer. All Naruto could smell was blood. Would Sasuke die too? Or would he live traumatized?

Madara’s presence disappeared and the Root agents were far away. But Itachi was returning, and fast. 

First thing that came to mind, he hit Sasuke on that point in-between his neck and his shoulder just as he entered the gates leading into the compound. Sasuke fell down immediately, unconscious. 

Itachi kept running overhead and there was no confrontation. Did Itachi just miss him? It seemed unlikely. Itachi was a genius and Naruto didn’t have his genjutsu. It took him a minute, but Naruto was able to drag Sasuke out of the compound and into the forest, away from the Root Anbu.

He didn't know what was going to come after this, if the coup was really over or if any of the people that left the compound were actually safe. But Naruto knew it would be the last time he would be able to talk to Itachi. The last time he'd be able to talk about Shisui. And it was probably undeserved confidence stemming from Itachi’s earlier decision to spare Naruto and Sasuke, but the blond didn’t think Itachi would kill him. 

So Naruto sat next to Itachi on the roof as tears silently fell from the older ninja's eyes. 

"Naruto?" it was a barely audible whisper.

The blond nodded stiffly, going to wipe the blood off his face the first time that night.

"Shisui mentioned you," Itachi didn’t look away from the tree line.

"Shisui mentioned you too."

"What did he say?"

"He said you were a good person. That the clan was in good hands," Naruto had his eyes closed, Shisui was still so clear in his memory. He hoped that never changed.

Itachi laughed but it was short and humorless. He stood up and looked down at the blond. 

"In different circumstances, I would have liked to talk."

Naruto nodded his head but continued talking, "Shisui was a good person too. He didn't lie."

Itachi dropped a hand onto Naruto's hair and patted it softly. His hand was crusted over in blood but Naruto didn't mind. Shisui always used to pat his hair.

"You're like Shisui," Naruto concluded. 

Itachi smiled, actually smiled this time, and left. 

Naruto waited a bit longer before going back to where he left Sasuke. It took forever, but he managed to haul the significantly larger boy to the hospital. Naruto’s whole body felt heavy, it sagged with every step closer to his apartment. Above all though, he felt empty, entirely spent. In the end, Shisui was dead and Itachi was gone. But Sasuke was ok, and maybe, that meant Naruto had done good.

Naruto went to school the next day and it was released that there were 34 casualties, all attributed to Itachi. Most of those who were dead were Uchiha ninjas or police. It was a tragedy, but to those who knew, the coup d'etat was dead. The Uchiha leadership had fallen apart and the closest thing to head they had left was a hospitalized nine-year-old boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit short but oh lord did it take me forever. I basically re-wrote this chapter from scratch when re-reading it. It's surprisingly hard to balance changing the cannon and power balancing. In the last version, Naruto pulled off a genjutsu that would make any later problems in the story seem inconsequential compared to this one. 
> 
> Anyway, from here on out the story gets a lot softer. Just had to get all the angst out in the first few chapters. But now that it's out of my system, expect a more light-hearted tone.
> 
> Thanks as always for reading!


	6. Growing Up

Choji waved to Shikamaru as he stood to move towards Hinata and a group of three other kids. Choji had been doing that for a while and Shikamaru watched with slightly narrowed eyes. Shikamaru had invited him to eat lunch together, as always, but Choji excused himself once again. Shikamaru wasn’t dense, he knew what was happening. Choji only started doing this after Shikamaru started sitting with Naruto. The only problem was Shikamaru wasn’t entirely sure why.

He slid into his spot next to Naruto, eyes still narrowed and focused on Choji. Choji was Shikamaru’s childhood friend, someone he deeply cared for. And that was unusual. Typically, befriending new people was more trouble than it was worth. The awkward growing pains that came with most friendships were just so unnecessary and avoidable- his few friendships faded away quickly. But once they were there, Shikamaru stuck with his friends through thick and thin. But Naruto was a whole different situation because he either didn’t talk at all or he talked as much as he wanted. With no eye for social cues, there was no pressure to act out the steps of friendship.

And maybe it was shallow, but Naruto held a certain mysterious intrigue Choji just never had. So childhood best friends or not, Shikamaru wasn’t going to choose between them.

“Shika -Shikamaru?” Naruto had his head turned, chopsticks poking at Shikamaru’s hand.

“Huh?” Shikamaru turned to face Naruto, “What?”

Naruto blinked owlishly, “I was talking and you weren’t listening,” Shikamaru mumbled a small sorry, “are you feeling alright? I have-”

“It’s- I’m fine, thanks,” Shikamaru propped his head upon his hand, “what were you saying?”

“Have you found a different way to track lineage?” it was a side project Naruto was working on and Shikamaru couldn’t imagine why he would put in all the extra effort. It wasn’t - it didn’t seem to be - for Naruto himself, who had no lineage to track. 

So Shikamaru was helping him out of courtesy, "Not yet."

“A method used by the monarchy in the Land of Iron was to-” Shikamaru just couldn’t choose between his friends. He couldn’t leave his childhood best friend but if he left Naruto, the blond would be all alone. Because for some reason, no one approached the small boy. Well, Shikamaru  _ knew _ why, after all, he had only befriended Naruto recently, long after knowing of his existence, but still, it seemed unacceptable to leave him alone.

No, Shikamaru would either need to get rid of this odd rift between Choji and Naruto - although it seemed to be entirely on Choji’s part - or at least get to the bottom of why the rift existed, to begin with.

And it was a ridiculously simple plan.

Naruto’s mouth snapped closed as Shikamaru started talking, “You wanna go cloud watching together?”

Naruto, of course, readily agreed. And later that day, when Shikamaru was leaving class, side-by-side with Choji, he repeated, “Cloud watching?”

And Choji shrugged, opening a new bag of potato chips. They started walking to the regular spot, a cove hidden out behind the Nara compound. But Shikamaru stopped abruptly, “Sorry, forgot to mention, Naruto's gonna join up.”

Choji turned around with raised eyebrow, “Ehh? But Shikamaru-”

“Should I not have?”

“It’s not that,” Choji rubbed his neck with an awkward smile, “I just thought it would be the two of us, like _ normal _ .”

Shikamaru shrugged, “How about next time?”

“O-ok.”

“And you’ll still stay?”

“I guess,” Choji sighed, “he’s just-”

“Naruto,” Shikamaru turned to wave minimally, “over here.”

Naruto’s lost eyes zoned in on Shikamaru and nodded before walking over, “Good afternoon, Shikamaru, Choji.”

“Yeah, hi,” Choji smiled sheepishly.

“It’s just past here,” Shikamaru nudged at the trees and began walking. It was silent except for the sound of Choji eating.

Naruto didn’t mind, staring perfectly straight ahead and Shikamaru was smirking slightly. But Choji’s ever-increasing eating pace gave away his nervousness.

“So, Naruto,” Choji’s eyes flickered from tree to tree, “what do you usually do at home?”

“Study,” the blond’s impassive gaze turned onto Choji.

“Anything fun?”

But studying was fun, “... cooking?”

Choji’s eyes briefly met Naruto’s before he turned away, “What about your parents? Why don’t they do it?”

“I don’t have any,” Naruto’s head tilted to the side slightly as Choji refused to look at him.

“Oh- oh,” Choji gulped, “Um, look! A beetle,” he excitedly pointed at the base of the tree.

Shikamaru glanced at it briefly before looking back with wide eyes, “Woah, it’s huge!”

Choji poked at it, “I’m sure Shino would love this.”

“That guy? Yeah probably,” Shikamaru was looking on from afar.

“It’s a Hercules beetle,” Naruto stood behind Choji.

“I wonder if it's a girl or a boy,” Choji grinned.

“Female,” Naruto answered, “Its head is small.”

“Wow,” Choji breathed out, “You know a lot about beetles! Do you like bugs too? Cuz you’d love Shino-” Choji rambled on happily.

“Not particularly,” Naruto took a step away from the massive insect, “I read about them.”

“Oh,” Choji shrugged a bit, standing to keep walking, “Then why read about them? You know, if you don’t like them?”

“I found the book.”

“And… you read it just because?”

“Yes,” Naruto nodded earnestly.

Choji offered a half-hearted smile, “that’s nice.”

And then there was silence again. This time, Shikamaru decided to break it, “You know, I didn’t see you around Konoha much before the academy,” he looked back over his shoulder to meet Naruto’s eyes.

“Yes?”

“Any reason?”

“I didn’t leave my b- home,” Naruto clasped his hands together behind his back.

“So you lived in Konoha,” Shikamaru turned around fully, hands behind his head, walking backward.

“Yes,” Naruto was becoming increasingly confused by the half questions.

“Where’d you live?” Choji filled in, a small frown on his face. Naruto was hard to get any information out of.

“The orphanage.”

“And why couldn’t you leave?” Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head as he ran straight into a tree.

“The matron didn’t let me,” Naruto didn’t hesitate to speak, seeming more lost than sad.

“Oh,” Shikamaru whirled around, “well we’re here.”

And it was silent from then on. The only sounds being those of birds perching themselves on Naruto’s stomach. Choji left first, saying he had to get home in time for dinner. And when it was just the two of them, Shikamaru rolled onto his side. It was pretty uncomfortable, the cold grass trailing along his cheek, but he could properly look at Naruto. The blond stared up, unblinking, at the sky, as stiff and blank as ever.

Shikamaru sighed loudly, and Naruto turned to look at him, “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to,” Naruto didn’t look particularly content.

“I’m ok,” Naruto looked back up at the sky, “It’s quiet. I can think.”

“Well try to relax more,” Shikamaru also rolled back over, “it’s better that way.”

Naruto’s shoulder sagged into the ground.

“And Naruto,” Shikamaru focused in on a blinking star, it was just starting to appear in the slowly darkening sky, “You don’t have too, but you can talk about the stuff that happened in the orphanage. I don’t know a whole lot about comforting people but I can listen.”

The look of pure confusion on Naruto’s face said all it needed to. What happened at the orphanage? It was just another part of his life, like any other. Nothing interesting ever happened there. The only part worth talking about was when he met a bunch of nice people, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, and Jiji, and Shikamaru, and most of all, Shisui.

\---

It was a new year and this time, Naruto happened to be placed behind Sasuke. And since there wasn't much else to do, Naruto stared at the back of that black hair.

Things changed so much after the Uchiha incident. People around Sasuke talked, whispered and the looks directed at him changed. His loose group of friends slowly devolved after Sasuke started ignoring all the people near him. When most of the men and some of the girls stopped bothering with Sasuke in return, all that was left was a fan group that watched him from afar.

And now, for the first time since Naruto had seen him, Sasuke was alone. If there was any time to reach out, it would be now, since Naruto wouldn't have to crawl past Sasuke's wall of bodies. But even Naruto could tell Sasuke was unwilling to talk.

What was there to talk about? Sasuke didn't know Naruto was there during the murders, no one did. Either way, it was impolite to bring up. And it didn't seem like they had a lot in common besides their tendency to attract tragedy.

But Sasuke turned around, one raised eyebrow. And Naruto blinked in surprise but didn't say anything otherwise.

"Why are you staring at me?" the teacher hadn't come in yet and the classroom could hardly contain all the screaming, so it was hard to hear Sasuke, but the message came through.

And Naruto wasn't sure what to say, "Have you read the first volume of  _ A People's Untold History _ yet?"

"What?"

Scrap that, Naruto had to take a different approach, "Why are you so upset?" Naruto could imagine why, but Sasuke at least had some family left, with a decent amount of Uchiha surviving the incident.

Sasuke scoffed and turned around.

Was that rude? Naruto hadn't realized the question would've hurt Sasuke.

But Sasuke did speak, after a long pause, back still facing Naruto, "You wouldn't understand. My brother ruined my life."

Odd… Naruto had to wonder, did Sasuke not know what happened that night? Naruto assumed he did as his family was so heavily implicated in all parts of the issue. But maybe Sasuke didn't. That just didn't seem right. 

So Naruto went to see his Jiji later that day.

"Ok," Hiruzen put down his quill, "what do you need Naruto-kun?"

The blond had been standing in his office, staring at the wall for over ten minutes. And when his name was called, his eyes snapped forward, "Does Sasuke know about Itachi?"

Hiruzen sighed, was Naruto bluntness a blessing or a burden? It was hard to decide. Either way, Hiruzen waved his guards out of the room, "No, Naruto-kun, and you weren't supposed to know about it either."

"He was on orders," And even if Naruto disliked the excuse, Itachi was putting down a coup.

"Naruto," Hiruzen spoke slowly, precisely, "The Uchiha are a powerful clan, even now. They are an important asset to Konoha. Their loyalty would be challenged if they viewed it as government suppression," there was no point in lying about it all with Naruto, the blond already knew the top-secret parts.

"Itachi is his brother."

"I know," Hiruzen sighed, "I know, but Sasuke very well may be the next clan head, he needs a positive view of the village."

Naruto was quiet.

"You understand don't you," he didn't, "don't tell him, it's an order, as your Hokage."

The next day, Naruto talked to the teacher and got moved to the back where no one sat. Looking at Sasuke made Naruto think about Itachi and Shisui and it was hard- Naruto wanted to sa  _ something _ but he couldn't say anything.

\---

The Hokage had gathered all the available jounin in his office as well as some clan heads.

"Team selection day once again," the Hokage announced while tapping the pen on his desk. A set of groans followed.

One shinobi, the easily recognizable Inoichi Yamanaka, cut in, "Hokage-sama-" 

Hiruzen waved his hand, "you weren't called to take up a team. Actually," Hiruzen looked up from the profiles scattered over his desk, "I called you three," he pointed at the Ino-Shika-Cho team, "because I want to break up the team this year."

The room was frighteningly silent. Shikaku slowly smoked his cigarette, "You’ve got a good reason I’m sure, Hokage-sama?"

"I've observed the graduating class and we need to consider a mix of skill and teamwork. I have the files here if you would like to look at them," the Hokage lifted the beige stack and handed them to the trio to shuffle through, "I am willing to hear your opinions, but I think Shikamaru should be on a team with Naruto and Shino. Ino and Choji will be together with Hinata."

"Two girls huh?" Inoichi drawled as he looked through his daughter's profile. He couldn't say he was against it. Knowing his daughter, she would adapt to the Ino-Shika-Cho team, but it would never really grow on her. The Hyuga heiress seemed like a good influence.

"Yes, the hope for these teams will be that they can interact in a way to cover each other's character flaws."

Shikaku had no objections, Naruto had been coming over to the Nara home for years already and he was quite delightful, definitely grew on the whole family, but especially Shikamaru. And Choza, amiable as always, agreed with whatever everyone else wanted.

The three men passed back the files quietly, "I assume this matter is settled then? Good. You three can stay if you'd like,” and all three did out of curiosity, “Who would like to lead a team this year? We have ten passing teams.” 

The room stilled but Kurenai stepped forward. Asuma studied his fellow ninja before stepping up casually. There were few shinobi that actually looked forward to taking on a team. After a good couple of seconds, three more jounin stepped up.

But that was still only half, “Kakashi, I would like to assign you team seven this year. Sasuke, Kiba, and Sakura,” the Hokage rattled off teams.

Kakashi slumped over but didn’t say anything.

“Team 8, Hinata, Ino, Choji, is assigned to Kurenai. And team 10, Shikamaru, Naruto, Shino, is assigned to Asuma.”

The jounin filed out with an order to meet their teams the following day. Tsunade, who was waiting outside his office, walked inside.

“Tsunade, a pleasant surprise.” 

“Hai, I came to congratulate Naruto on passing.” 

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, “Why are you in my office then?” 

“I’ll talk to him after he passes the final test,” she picked up one of the profiles on the table, disregarding all protocol. 

“Anyway,” she continued, “I heard the team pairings.”

“Don’t like them?” Hiruzen sighed, why were all the ninjas under his jurisdiction so opinionated. 

“Why didn’t you place Naruto under Kurenai. I told you he’s skilled at genjutsu.”

“Yes, well I wanted Kuranai to lead Hinata and Ino specifically.”

“Then you should have placed him on that team.”

“It wouldn’t be compatible. And their skills would be too similar,” Tsunade still looked peeved, “Don’t worry, I asked Kurenai to help him out. And I have faith in Asuma. He’s well rounded, he’ll be able to help all of them.”

Tsunade still didn’t look entirely convinced, “I’ll be watching over him.”

“Do as you please.”

\---

Naruto followed behind Asuma-sensei as he led them deeper into the forest. Shino walked slightly ahead of him and Shikamaru was to his right. All things considered, this was probably the best team Naruto could have been placed on. He hadn’t spoken to Shino before, but he seemed like a good person. Shino cared for insects so he had to be nice.

But Naruto knew virtually nothing about Asuma except that he was Jiji’s son. He stopped abruptly in front of a large tree stump. 

“Ok gang,” Asuma turned around, “this will be our training ground,” He glanced at the sky, “We usually wait a day for this but we’ve got plenty of daylight left so we’ll just get it over with today.”

“You are not yet genin, you become genin if I pass you. And to determine if I’ll pass you, you will need to complete a test,” Asuma glanced up again, looking for something, “Your test is to retrieve this kunai,” Asuma twirled the weapon around his finger before he threw into the air. It disappeared behind the tops of the trees, “But you can’t pick it up using your hands and you can’t touch the ground and-” Asuma scratched his head as if trying to think up the test on the spot, “You have until sundown,” he smiled.

“Oh, and watch out for traps,” and then he was gone.

Shikamaru, Shino, and Naruto jumped onto a single large branch without speaking.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, “What a pain.”

Shino nodded, “I agree, why? Because we will have to grab the kunai with our mouth.”

That sounded like a bad idea. The kunai was probably lying in the dirt somewhere. 

Naruto’s nose scrunched up slightly, “I can use chakra strings.”

“Then we just need to find it,” Shino stated.

“He threw it east,” Shikamaru turned to face the direction of the kunai, “And it was at 70-degree angle so it shouldn’t be too far,” he drew a circle in the tree bark with his finger, "It should be anywhere within this area," Shikamaru traced his invisible map.

Shino considered it, "You will lead."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes but nodded at Shino and Naruto, so they all stood to run. But after passing just the first tree, a net launched at them from behind and strung them all up under a tree branch. Quite unfair, it was near impossible to avoid in mid-air. Naruto was squished in between Shikamaru and Shino. It wasn’t very comfortable.

“There better not be more of these,” Shikamaru grumbled. 

“I can get us out, but then we’ll fall to the ground,” Naruto’s hand was coated with red chakra. Burning it would be faster than trying to cut it considering how thick it was.

“Shino, could you get us swinging?” Shikamaru pulled himself off of Naruto and onto his side. He always got like that when he considered something important enough to put effort into it, his eyes narrowed and his voice deepened. Shino nodded before going through a series of hand signs, a low-level wind Jutsu. It wasn’t much, but they did start swinging.

“Ever been on a swing?” Shikamaru turned to Naruto. He had had not. Naruto only ever went to the park once and it was not a good experience, “lean forward when the net moves forward and lean back when it’s going backward.”

And the net started to swing faster, going farther out each time. 

“We’re aiming for that branch there,” Shikamaru pointed straight ahead, “When I say go, Naruto you burn the string that’s connecting the net to the branch.”

They waited for two more swings when Shikamaru said go. The net detached immediately with all of them still in it. They flew towards the branch with Shino and Shikamaru just barely managing to grab a hold with one arm each. The net would have stopped Naruto from falling, but Shikamaru was still holding his hand tightly. Shino pulled himself up after ripping a hole in the net with a kunai. He then pulled Shikamaru and Naruto up.

“We’re off track-” Shikamaru started but there was a loud squealing noise and Naruto’s body reacted, pulling his team flat onto the branch. Overhead a large log barely missed their heads.

“He’s trying to kill us,” Shikamaru whispered in disbelief.

“I do not believe he would kill us. He would step in if we were in any real trouble,” Shino interjected.

“It’s troublesome all the same.”

“It’s getting late,” Naruto pointed to the sun, already dipping behind the tall pines. 

Shikamaru scratched his head, “Any idea on how to avoid these things.”

“My insects can monitor the area,” Shino nodded. 

And he slowly led them through the sea of traps. What should have been a five-minute run took them twenty with the odd path they were forced to take, dipping through different trees, scaling, or descending them when necessary.

“Right,” Shino pointed at a branch and they followed him, but the branch vanished just as the team landed, as if an illusion. Naruto was the closest to the tree itself so he was able to stick it with chakra. Naruto caught Shikamaru’s hand and Shikamaru caught Shino. But Naruto wasn’t that strong, and the weight was making his feet slip little by little. 

“Sorry,” Shino’s voice remained perfectly calm, “My bugs didn’t sense that.”

Naruto nodded, “genjutsu.”

“Can you break it,” Shikamaru asked while trying to get some footing somewhere.

Naruto nodded, it was his specialty, but even that was hard when he was trying to carry two people bigger than him. Naruto leaned back until he managed to get his back stuck to the tree as well. Naruto closed my eyes and focused on chakra circulation. It didn’t take long before there was that little ‘tick’ that disappeared as soon as a genjutsu was gone. He opened his eyes again and the branches looked completely different.

Shikamaru looked around quickly, “Naruto, drop us,” he was looking at a branch that was below them and to the right. Naruto let his chakra slip little by little to bring them down closer. The tree scratched against his back but it wasn’t able to draw blood. Naruto waited until Shino's feet were hovering a foot above the branch. Then they fell. Naruto joined them on the low hanging branch, although a bit more neatly. 

“Thanks for the uh- genjutsu thing,” Shikamaru cracked his neck and it made Naruto wince, “The kunai should be about here. Can your bugs find it?”

Shino nodded and paused, “It’s behind that tree.”

Naruto jumped to the branch Shino pointed at and there it was, shining under the last rays of light, a small kunai stuck into the dirt. A single chakra string pulled the kunai up and Naruto let it drag behind him as I jumped back to the branch with Shikamaru and Shino.

“Do we have to go all the way back too?” Shikamaru complained.

“It won’t take long, why? Because we can take the same path we took here back.”

“It’s fine,” Asuma’s voice called from the ground below they're tree branch, making Naruto's shoulders jump slightly, “Come down, your test is over.”

“Good news,” Asuma smiled lazily, “You passed.”

“Were the traps really necessary?” Shikamaru grumbled.

“It was to test your teamwork and skills. And it was entertaining to watch. Anyway, since we finished early, that means we get a head start on the other teams with training. Meet here tomorrow at,” Asuma paused to assess the tired now-genin kids, “nine. Don’t get used to that though.”

Asuma turned around to start leading team ten back out of the forest.

“Can’t we tomorrow off,” Shikamaru complained. 

“I agree with sensei. We should begin training as soon as possible,” Shino argued.

They both looked at Naruto, “I like training.”

Shikamaru groaned, “Naruto, we’re friends, you back me up.”

Naruto supposed Shikamaru was right because he was supposed to make his friends happy. But Shino and Asuma were his teammates now too… but Shikamaru held seniority.

“I retract my answer,” Naruto bowed his head to Shino.

“Don’t drag him into your laziness,” Asuma scolded, “You won’t be getting many days off. When you’re not doing missions I expect you’ll be training.” 

Team ten reached a road heading back into the village and Asuma waved them goodbye before flickering away. They walked down the road in silence until Shino said his goodbyes and took a different road. So Shikamaru and Naruto kept walking.

“This team's gonna be a real pain huh?”

“I’m happy we’re on the same team.”

Shikamaru turned to look at Naruto for a moment before looking away again, “Yeah, yeah… wanna come over? Mom’s making salmon.”

Naruto agreed because Shilamaru’s parents were good people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit more vignette styled than my previous so let me know if you like that at all. In general, they're harder to write than scenes that expressly push the plot forward but I usually end up liking them a lot, so I may do more of those.
> 
> Not much else to say about this chapter, thank you for reading!


	7. A Day in the Life

Shikamaru left as soon as training was over with a sheepish wave. Asuna, being the very engaged teacher he was, always came prepared to training: weights, seals, traps, weapons, anything.

So needless to say there was a decent clean-up after every meeting. Shikamaru may have been lazy, but he would never push any work on his teammates. But something came up, a dinner with the Shika-Ino-Cho families.

Despite how guilty Shikamaru looked, Naruto didn’t mind, he had no other plans. And no matter how much Shino wallowed in his small victories over Shikamaru, he really didn’t care either. 

Shino pulled out a kunai wedged into a tree, “What are you going to do today? Now that Shikamaru is busy,” he handed off the handful of kunai to Naruto who was laying out a sealing scroll. 

“I’ll take a walk or go home,” Naruto answered, not entirely understanding the question.

“Oh… why do I ask? Because you and Shikamaru always hang out together.”

“Not always,” Naruto refuted, “twice a week he meets with Choji and on Wednesdays he plays shogi with Asuma.”

“But you still spend most of your time together.”

Naruto nodded, it was true after all, “Is that bad?"

“Well,” Shino scratched his head, something Naruto noted as uncommon for Shino, “No, but…”

“Would you like to come with us?”

Naruto could barely see the specks of red at the top of Shino’s ears and he went silent for a minute, “Not all the time… I am worried about you,” his glasses caught the light as he pushed them up, “Shikamaru has other friends and people to rely on. But you only have Shikamaru.”

Naruto turned his head in confusion, “But I have you and Asuna.”

Shino’s hand dropped to his side, “I see,” he sighed, “sorry.”

Naruto bowed his head, “thank you for your concern.”

Shino waved his hand disarmingly and handed off the last batch of scattered supplies to Naruto. He was rearing up to leave but Naruto stopped him, “What are you doing today?”

Shino shrugged, having loosened up a bit during their talk, “going home.”

“Would you like to come over for dinner?”

Shino hesitated but nodded slowly. The walk was quiet, as it usually was around Shino and Naruto. They stopped in front of a thin wobbly-looking apartment complex and Naruto led Shino up the stairs to the top floor. The apartment was fittingly small for the awkwardly sized complex. Furniture wise, Shino noted, there wasn’t much. The conjoined dining-living room attached to the kitchen. The only thing in there was a four-person wooden table and two chairs. One chair, as plain as the rest of the house, the other, however, was an ornate yellow and pink butterfly wicker chair. Shino couldn’t imagine Naruto buying it.

“Tea?” Naruto was already walking to the kitchen.

“Yes,” Shino took his shoes off and sat them at the edge of the doorway, “pardon the intrusion.”

Shino walked as far into the main room as possible. Despite the lacking furniture situation, the space was crowded with plants. It looked more like a nursery than a house. The bottles and boxes of plants lined the wall, going partially into a narrow hallway.

“Shino?” Naruto set a plain white cup down on his table and equally plain teapot right next to it. 

Shino tore his eyes away from the forest blooming before his eyes to sit himself down in Naruto’s plain brown chair. And instead of sitting in that butterfly chair, Naruto plopped onto the ground.

Shino raised an eyebrow but Naruto just stared at him, “You’re not going to sit on that chair?”

“No,” Naruto had never even considered the idea, “that’s Shisui’s chair.”

“Does Shisui come here often?” Shino narrowed his eyes on the dusty chair.

“He used to,” Naruto sipped slowly from his cup.

Shino knew what that meant, “You should sit there, why? Because it will preserve the memory,” and sitting on the floor was too sad.

“I can’t.”

“Hm?”

“I haven’t fulfilled our promise,” that chair was for humans, good humans. Naruto wasn’t good enough.

Shino couldn't say much to that, so he turned his attention to the plants, “Where are they from?”

Naruto stood to refill his cup and his fingers glided across the green and red leaves of the small bush sitting upon the table, “I find them in the forest.”

“And you take them home?” There was an overwhelming amount of plants, surely there had to be a limit.

“When they are about to die,” Naruto’s hand glowed a pale blue and the browning leaf in his grasp turned back to a healthy green. He lifted up the weeping branches, showing a splotch of paint on the base, “the green paint means it’s ready to re-plant outside. Blue means it prefers shade and red means it needs direct sunlight.”

Shino smiled softly. Naruto’s eyes sparkled when he looked at those plants. Naruto abandoned his cup on the table, picking up a cardboard box with a tall vine growing out of it then carefully placed it on the table.

“I did not realize this grew in Konoha,” Shino inspected the vine, thin long green leaves and small white flowers speckled throughout. 

Naruto nodded, flicking off a water droplet that incessantly clung to a down-turned leaf, “it’s a white jasmine.”

Shino ruffled through the leaves and pulled out a large snail. The creature curled on his finger slowly.

“The plants attract a lot of bugs,” Naruto walked back to his plant corridor and Shino followed this time, squatting next to the blond and staring into the multicolored blossoms. Sitting like this, Shino felt like he was back in the training field, surrounded by gigantic branching red-woods. At first, everything looked still. But slowly, the apartment came to life and he could see the insects climbing through the sun-lit leaves.

Shino readjusted his glasses, “Wow...”

Naruto rested his head on his knees and watched silently. It was nice to have company.

“May I take one of these off your hands?” Shino caught a bright red flower petal that flew off in the breeze.

Naruto nodded, “whichever one has a green mark,” he pointed at the flower in Shino’s hand, “It’s a milkweed, attracts butterflies.”

“Beetles lay their eggs in that one,” Shino pointed to a plant in the back.

Naruto nodded, the glimmer still in his eyes, “I’ll start on dinner.”

The breeze picked up and more flower petals followed it, flowing throughout the apartment complex. Shino stayed, sorting through the pots. 

It didn’t take long before the smells wafting through the room drew Shino back into the kitchen, carrying a small tree covered in pink flowers.

Naruto turned around, setting two plates on the table, “Flowering pink currant,” Naruto observed Shino’s tree, “part shade, doesn’t need much water.”

Shino nodded and set it down, “Smells good,” it was a simple soba dish but it tasted better than anything his mother had ever made, “I can see why Shikamaru follows you around so much, why? Your cooking is good.”

 _Shikamaru followed him around?_ Naruto’s eyes reflected confusion but he just bowed his head in thanks. Then lifted his head again, “Do you dislike Shikamaru?”

Shino smirked around his chopsticks, “He is lazy, unmotivated, and a grouch,” Shino nodded slowly, “but he is our teammate, so I like him. I do implore you to keep that a secret.”

“I see…” Naruto strummed his fingers against the edge of his bowl, “I won’t tell him.”

For an under-decorated and lonely apartment, it could feel truly warm. 

\---

Team eight were farming for the tenth time that month. Naruto thought he knew Konoha pretty well but he had underestimated the sheer number of farms in and around the village.

And Naruto did not like farming. He thought he would, considering Naruto had built up a substantial indoor garden.

But the work these farms wanted done was hard grueling physical labor. Running? That was fine, Naruto could even state that he might like running.

But shoveling large piles of manure, chopping wood, and hoeing the ground was different. It made his arms feel like mush.

Naruto didn't complain- mostly. He did answer no when Shikamaru asked if he was ok. Because he wasn't going to lie.

Asuma liked watching his genin pout and stumble through the D-ranks but Naruto's stone-cold apathy as he robotically shoveled dirt was really scaring the whole group.

Even the birds that nested in Naruto's hair on most days sat silently in the branches during those missions.

The last three months were particularly repetitive, not that Naruto minded _that_. There were some missions that were satisfying to do.

The cat capture missions, that everyone seemed to hate, worked out in the team's favor. They were good at being quick and invisible, excelled at it. Shikamaru organized, Shino found, and Naruto caught.

But everyone was getting antsy. Shikamaru was the only one who actually complained but the silent tension both Naruto and Shino gave off was enough to make Asuma sweat.

So when they went into the office to hand in the report for another mission well done, Asuma spoke up, "I think we'll be taking our first C-rank Hokage-sama-."

Iruka looked up, "already?"

"I'm confident in their teamwork and skill."

Hiruzen didn’t think twice and smiled, "let me check," he sifted through the papers, "there's been an increase in a low-level mugging outside the village gates. A group of men are fixing the road leading into their village and are requesting protection. You will meet them there at seven tomorrow," he handed the folder to Asuma.

Asuma faced his team, smiling, "I'm dismissing you early today, no team training. Get a good night's rest and meet at five in the training ground."

Asuma watched the backs of his genin as they left, talking quietly amongst each other. He turned back around to face his father.

Deciding to be straightforward, Asuma bowed, "I need Naruto's file."

Hiruzen smiled tiredly and stood walking past Asuma and out of the office, the jounin following closely behind, "What do you need?"

"There are some abilities he has… and," Asuma sighed, throwing out his cigar, "did something happen to him?"

Hiruzen stopped walking, "Did he say something?"

"No," Asuma denied, "he doesn't talk a lot. At first, I thought he was just shy, but he seems to have some actual emotional problems."

Hiruzen let out a long breath.

"Don't worry dad, I just want to help him."

"We found Naruto when he was seven locked in the attic of the orphanage. He was malnourished and abused. It seems he had not been allowed to leave the attic for those seven years. He would have died if it weren't for the Kyuubi"

Asuma's face was still but his hand shook.

"The matron abusing him was executed two years ago," Hiruzen's face was shadowed by his hat, "what abilities?"

"He demonstrated some strange abilities when touching or being near opponents. He cast a genjutsu on me that I couldn't break as long as he was touching me."

"I'll let you read the report for yourself. But Naruto's whole body is like a chakra core. His chakra is extremely potent and strong. It's strongest near Naruto's body," Hiruzen turned the corner and entered the room. He shuffled through files, "his cells are infused with chakra so he can to some extent change the molecular structure of his body. Tsunade mentioned he had to draw his own blood when testing because his skin would become impenetrable," Hiruzen pulled out the files and gave them to Asuma. 

The jounin thanked his father and bid him goodbye. He had one last stop before he could go home. Asuma flickered to his destination in a split second. The Nara residence.

He knocked and Shikaku opened the door. The man observed him for a moment before stepping out of the way.

"Come in," Shikaku walked past the kitchen and to a plain room in the back of the house. It had a low table and a set of sliding doors that led to the backyard, "did my son do something?"

"No," Asuma chuckled, "just wanted to see if he was up for a game of shogi."

"He's not home right now. Should be back soon. I tell him to meet you here," Shikaku waved lazily as he left the office.

Asuma didn’t wait long before he heard indecipherable talking from outside the backyard doors.

"- I didn't read them," Naruto opened the sliding door while looking at Shikamaru who was surprisingly animated.

"Why did you even- Sensei?" Shikamaru turned to Asuma quizzically.

"Shikamaru," he greeted, then looked at the blond, and raised an eyebrow at the Nara.

Shikamaru copied him, raising an eyebrow back.

Naruto didn't know what they were doing so he walked past them, setting down his stack of books on a separate table that was pushed up against the wall. Naruto probably spent as much time at the Nara household as he did in his own house. 

Shikamaru came to Naruto’s house occasionally as well. It was usually when Naruto found a plant during their cloud watching or just when he wanted to eat Naruto's cooking. But even though Shikamaru complained about his troublesome mother, the warm buzzing that surrounded his house trumped the cold silence of Naruto's apartment. 

And, well, Naruto wouldn't have to look at that hideous pink and yellow chair.

"Naruto," Shikamaru pointed at the blond's head before he had a chance to sit down.

Naruto reached up to pat the top of his hair, and sure enough, there was a bird sleeping peacefully. Naruto walked back to the doors and pried it out of his hair. The bird awoke and peevishly chirped at Naruto in anger before flying away. 

"What are you doing here sensei?" Shikamaru sat across from Asuma at the small table.

"Just came for a game of shogi," Asuma patted a small case at his side, "didn’t expect Naruto to be here."

"Hello sensei," Naruto waved mechanically. He then picked up the books he was carrying earlier and handed them to Shikamaru. 

"What are those?" Asuma raised his eyebrow.

Shikamaru didn't look up as he set up the board, "Nothing-"

"Books Jiraiya-sensei gave me."

Asuma peered over the table to get a look. Icha Icha Paradise. Asuma frowned, was Jiraiya trying to corrupt his students?

"What was he thinking?" Asuma whispered to himself.

"He told me to read and edit them but I didn't understand it," Naruto answered.

"And you're interested, Shikamaru?" Asuma raised an eyebrow.

The Nara rolled his eyes, "I don't want Naruto reading them."

Asuma lit another cigarette, "Give them to me."

"Whatever perv-sensei," Shikamaru slid the books under the table. 

"They aren't for me," Asuma smirked, "I have real women I can talk to."

Naruto still had no idea what was happening so he just took a seat on the ground a little ways away and watched carefully as the two absentmindedly set up the pieces.

"It'll be a good gift for Kakashi. Or maybe I'll just burn it in front of him," Asuma mused and made the first move.

"Are you a sadist now too?" Shikamaru spoke casually but he was fully focused on the game.

The game was tense and long and it didn't look like there was going to be an end for quite some time. 

"You can go ahead if you're bored," Shikamaru took a peek at the blond.

"I'm not bored," Naruto's eyes were glued to the board. And he stayed, watching the whole game in silence.

Shikamaru groaned and leaned back when he finally put down the last piece, winning the game. He rotated his arm, cracking his shoulder and Naruto flinched like always.

"Are you staying for dinner? He asked Naruto and Asuma, but his focus was solely on Naruto.

"No, I'll go pack," Naruto stood soundlessly.

"Bye Naru."

The blond waved his hand as he stepped out through the back doors. He wove his way through the forest. The sun was setting and the sky was quickly darkening. Naruto made a right turn, leaving the woods and going onto an empty street that then led into a narrow alleyway.

It was peaceful, what with the lack of noise. But it never lasted long. Naruto's senses alerted him there was something fast approaching but he couldn't move quickly enough in the thin passage. A body barreled straight into the blond knocking him onto the ground.

The body, a boy, groaned and rolled over, "ugh...Uzumaki?"

Naruto lifted his face from where it was planted in the ground, "Sasuke," he nodded.

“Damnit,” Sasuke grumbled and sat up.

Naruto was back on his feet in an instance, offering Sasuke a hand. It felt like he was supposed to say sorry in that moment, but if anything, Sasuke hit him so Naruto didn’t say anything.

Sasuke took his hand hesitantly and pulled himself up. He was holding a paper bag but half of its contents were spilled onto the ground. He started picking them up and Naruto helped because it seemed like a kind thing to do. Most of it was shinobi related. Kunai, shuriken, scrolls, and the like. It looked like a lot but Sasuke could have been buying it for someone else, so Naruto asked him. 

“It’s mine," voice cold, "training.”

Naruto nodded. Sasuke’s face, his clothes, they all looked so much like Shisui... “Don't you train with your team?”

Sasuke’s mouth turned down into a snarl, “Those idiots?”

“That’s harsh,” Sasuke and Shisui were incomparably different, “You don’t like them?”

“They’re incompetent, weak. I need to be strong, I have ambition.”

Naruto decided he didn’t want to continue this conversation, he was seeing Shisui but hearing someone completely different. So he stood, “I want to be stronger with my team for my ambition,” Naruto had never felt that burning in his gut, it made his heart pound, it made him want to defend Shisui. Naruto knew he should just be quiet and walk away but the words tumbled out of his mouth, “Shisui told me to be stronger to help people,” Naruto dropped the last stray shuriken into the paper bag. He then started walking away.

“You know Shisui?” Sasuke fell in step with Naruto then walked slightly in front. Sasuke's voice was deep with an uncaring boredness and yet, he continued to walk with Naruto.

Naruto’s lips pressed into a thin line, he wasn’t supposed to mention Shisui or Itachi around Sasuke. But Shisui was Sasuke’s family and he was Naruto’s family and lying about Shisui was too hard, “Yes. He was my friend…” Naruto allowed himself to peek at Sasuke’s face once more, “Did you know him?” 

“No, he was a friend of,” Sasuke stopped to look at the river and Naruto stopped too because it sounded like he was going to continue, “a family friend.”

“A friend of Itachi,” Naruto filled in before he could stop the words. Because Itachi was the only other person Naruto knew of who could carry on the pieces of Shisui’s kindness. And Itachi was unreachable to him.

Sasuke’s fist tightened into a fist, his eyes still focused on the water, “I heard Shisui was a good man. He was Itachi’s best friend… but that man killed him.” 

Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together, since when? Naruto knew that wasn’t true. That was impossible, Naruto was there, he knew what happened- but he couldn’t say that. Yet it hurt too much to let stand, “How do you know that?” Naruto twiddled with his hair and stared into the glimmering river. The sunset was reflected across the surface, catching bright oranges and reds between the cracks of blue; like a flowing shattered mirror.

“What?” Sasuke’s voice was biting.

“How do you know Itachi is a bad person?” Naruto didn’t look up but he could feel the air rush around him as Sasuke left.

Blond strands of hair fell into his eyes and Naruto sighed. At least the conversation was over. At least he could go home now.

\--- 

Asuma told them to be cautious but not expect much. He told them it was unlikely anyone would actually attack because they were ninjas and the muggings were probably perpetrated by petty solo thieves. 

But just in case, Shikamaru did ask some store owners and bystanders while team 10 was escorting the repairmen to their post. Most of them nodded their heads solemnly, said they had heard of the terrible things but then exclaimed, “Oh heavens no” when asked if _they_ had ever seen anything. 

Naruto said Asuma was very plausibly correct and he smiled while nodding. He patted the blond on the head too, it seemed like a lot of good people did that and his height made it all too easy.

“They seem more like urban legends at this point,” Shikamaru muttered, “what a pain.”

“Wouldn’t have hired you over a bedtime story kid,” one of the men shouted over his shoulder as they set up their materials.

“You ninja are expensive,” another one complained, “hope we get our money's worth,” but he was elbowed in the side.

But it did make logical sense to Naruto. If they paid the village to fight, they would expect to see a fight. But Shikamaru looked like he wanted to sleep so Naruto didn’t say anything.

“Don’t let your guard down just yet Shikamaru,” Asuma warned while lazily walking around.

“Why? Because good shinobi stay vigilant at all times,” Shino adjusted his glasses. 

It seemed like Shino and Shikamaru were born to annoy each other. However, they never physically fought so Naruto didn’t interfere. If anything, it was just odd that even Shikamaru could be riled up to train harder. And training was good so Asuma hardly said anything either.

“It’s not like we asked for a C-rank,” Shikamaru looked at Naruto for support.

But Naruto did want a C-rank mission, so he didn’t say anything.

“See? Naruto is a good Shinobi,” Shino pointed.

Naruto nodded and thanked him because he did try very hard.

“Pipe down you two,” Asuma sighed, never thinking he would have to say that to an Aburame or a Nara.

The trees stirred unnaturally and Naruto could feel that there were others. Asuma seemed to already know though. 

He raised his hand, “I’ll check the area for traps, you stay here and guard.”

Shikamaru shifted closer to Naruto, “seals?”

The blond pulled out a bundle strapped together with a rubber band, “Which ones?”

“Barrier, flash bomb- the red one, two of those, and,” Shikamaru paused to look at the sun, “the earth one,” he slipped them into his vest, “Wait for my signal in that tree,” he jabbed his finger to the right.

Naruto followed his instructions and watched as he talked to Shino, giving him the other flash bomb. He then placed the barrier seal on the ground in front of the repairmen. Which was odd because the barrier would only appear overhead, but Shikamaru was smart so Naruto didn’t say anything.

Shino made a bug clone and it took its place on the other side of the repairmen, forming a diamond around the men.

Then they just had to wait, and for a while, nothing happened. But the leaves shifted again.

“Eh? A bunch of kids?” four men appeared in front of Shikamaru. But more were coming out. There were at least 20 men. 

“Get out of the way and we’ll let you live,” one of the original four men spoke.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "This is a job, a job," Shikamaru looked far too relaxed but Naruto could see the tension in his neck, "we'd be fired if we left. Obviously."

“Ha?” the first man smirked and waved his hand. Three men from the tree left of Naruto jumped, aiming for the middle of their diamond. And expectedly, they hit the barrier, electrocuting themselves and falling to the ground with a loud thump. The repairmen jumped back, “Listen kids-” one repairman managed to squeak out, “maybe you should just stand down.”

“They’re obviously too much for you,” another one tried to whisper to Shino, “just wait until the adult guy comes back,” he was roughly shoved off.

“Just listen to your clients,” the man in front sneered.

But Shikamaru just shrugged, “Would love to,” and he rolled his eyes at the glare Shino sent, “but no can do.”

The thugs groaned on the ground but all movement ceased when four precise senbon struck their necks. And it seemed to shut the construction workers up as well.

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto- the signal- before throwing the flash bomb, Shino followed closely afterward. The genjutsu Naruto cast was simple enough, each man affected would see an empty field once their eyes refocused. Shikamaru and Shino had their eyes shut in preparation, they remained unaffected. 

By the time the flash ended Shino had already knocked a man onto the ground with a well-aimed elbow to the nose; taijutsu was something he was surprisingly very good at. Shikamaru threw down the last seal. Naruto had thought it was a failure, but Shikamaru liked it so he made more for him. 

It was supposed to make a wall out rock, a type of shield. But instead of being vertically long, it ended up stretching horizontally, not much use unless you were betting on someone tripping on it.

The long-short wall wound through the field, casting thin shadows in the noon sunlight. Shikamaru took quick control of the people Shino and his clone weren’t able to and Naruto was making quick work to knock out anyone he had a clear shot on with a senbon.

Naruto’s legs swung casually off the branch but the field was slowly getting more out of control. As men started recognizing the illusion they became erratic, attacking the air wildly and causing just a bit too much property damage to be acceptable. And with their clientele huddled in fear, also under the genjutsu, Naruto jumped from his hiding spot. It was mostly clean-up- Shikamaru and Shino had the rest handled, so Naruto rounded up the knocked out men and their weapons, ducking under a stray sword then continuing on. 

Shino’s clone disappeared and Shikamaru kicked out the last man standing. Naruto caught him before he had the chance to fall to the ground and dragged him under the man’s limp arms over to the human dog-pile. 

Shikamaru worked out the kinks in his shoulder, “Man that was a drag,” he scratched his neck. 

The genjutsu was down and Shino was by the group of scared construction workers. His job was to inform and reassure them but he was more interested in glaring every last one of them down until they stopped talking.

But there was still something off. Naruto felt it a bit late, the body in the trees. Then he heard the kunai, it was going towards Shikamaru, aimed at the heart, aimed to kill.

Naruto was there immediately, pushing in front of Shikamaru. The kunai hit his chest before bouncing off harmlessly into his hand. Shikamaru was still on the ground, looking up at Naruto with wide eyes, hands trembling. Shino’s swarm of bugs shot into the tree line and one last body fell on the ground.

Shikamaru sprung off the ground, nearly knocking headfirst into Naruto’s back. His clammy hands grasped Naruto’s shoulders urgently and spun him around. He was reaching for Naruto’s chest, for where the kunai should have been, where the wound should have been. 

Naruto blinked up, confused, and holding out the kunai.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shikamaru was angry, angrier than Naruto had ever seen him- the Nara was _livid._

And Naruto didn’t understand. He desperately wanted to, but he couldn’t. Who was Shikamaru angry at? “Helping. I thought it would make you happy.”

“You could have died,” his voice was still loud, Shikamaru never raised his voice. 

“But I’m not hurt.”

Shikamaru’s hands dropped to Naruto’s and he clutched the tips of the blond’s fingers. Sometimes the blond could be difficult to handle. But looking at the kunai, made it painfully obvious why it was always worth it. Naruto was too kind. Shikamaru carelessly picked up the kunai by its head, slicing his finger bed and throwing it away. Naruto’s big blue eyes stared at the blood quickly pooling from Shikamaru’s finger, his eyebrows creased together in utter confusion and worry. Naruto would probably never get why he scared Shikamaru so much- and it didn’t matter- Shikamaru was going to be strong enough neither he nor Naruto would have to feel like that.

Shikamaru sighed, quickly drained, “troublesome blond,” his forehead fell against Naruto’s shoulder, “you need to think about yourself more.”

He hugged Naruto and it was strange because typically only Tsunade did that. But Tsunade had been gone for a while and the contact burned. It was so much warmer than when Tsunade hugged him. Shino placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, “I’m happy you’re safe, Naruto.”

It was really warm. Naruto’s stomach felt light and his cheeks stung with the excess heat. Naruto’s eyes shut and his mouth curled up in a small but unmistakable smile, “Mm.”

Shino was frozen, too stunned by the sight. It was like liquid sunshine and Shino’s eyes softened rapidly. Shikamaru was going to be furious he missed it, that idiot still had his face stuffed into Naruto’s neck.

“Good job gang,” Asuma swept into the field, “Proud of you.”

Shikamaru reluctantly drew away from Naruto, “And where were you?”

“I was wondering the same thing, Sensei,” Shino glared.

Asuma waved, dismissing their anger, “By the time I got back you were already fighting. Looked like you had it in control.”

“What kind of sensei are you?” Shino asked incredulously.

“Your job is to protect us,” Naruto’s lip stuck out in what could have been mistaken as a pout but there was no way the Uzumaki was doing that. Absolutely impossible.

“I would’ve stepped in if you were in any real danger,” Asuma shrugged as he walked around to the pile of bodies whistling, “That’s quite a few. Looks like a gang.”

“And you said there wouldn’t be anyone,” Shikamaru accused.

“But you took care of it right?” Asuma smiled, “That means we get to go on even more C-ranks.”

Shikamaru groaned, “What a drag.”

The repairmen thanked the team once they finished their shift and Asuma sent a message with the location of the thugs. Then they left, walking at a slow pace.

“How exactly did you survive that?” Shino was staring at his own hand, closing it then open it repeatedly. Shikamaru shot him a short glare but then went back to staring at the sky. 

Naruto’s eyes, once again blank, roamed the treetops, “I can change the state of my body slightly.”

Another eyebrow raise. Naruto still didn’t know exactly what that meant but he was catching onto the patterns, “I don’t have tenketsus.” 

“Heh? How did that happen?” Shikamaru was suddenly interested in the conversation. 

“I don’t know,” Naruto wove his fingers together, Tsunade never explained it to him, he just overheard pieces of information, “they ruptured from lack of nutrition?”

Asuma placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and smiled. Shikamaru looked at the ground with a frown, he had that rare expression he only wore when he was stumped. He mumbled slowly under his breath _“lack of nutrition,”_ did that mean Naruto was starving? Or did someone starve him? Naruto had mentioned he lived in the orphanage for most of his life and that he hadn’t been allowed to leave.

Shikamaru raised his head, eyes wide, “Did the orphanage neglect you?”

Shino’s glasses dipped down far enough on his nose to show his own surprised face. It quickly morphed into a fierce glare, _did this guy have any tact?_

Asuma’s hand relocated from Naruto’s shoulder to Shikamaru’s, gripping tightly and smiling tightly, “Shikamaru,” he warned.

Shikamaru’s face heated rapidly and he scratched his head, “sorry- you don’t have to…” this was a hard situation to wiggle out of.

“I don’t believe so,” Naruto’s focus hadn’t moved from the trees- the birds within them more specifically- even as the tension around him continued to rise, “She fed me and gave me clothes.”

Asuma sighed, his hand dropping, it seemed like Naruto was the only one not feeling uncomfortable, “Just so you know, how the matron treated you was unacceptable.”

“It was?” Sure it wasn’t _nice_ but it seemed so normal.

“No,” Asuma lit another cigarette, “But it’s in the past so all we can do is learn,” it felt like a hollow statement, there wasn’t much good to learn from abuse other than what not to do. But having Naruto focus in on his past probably wasn’t much of a good idea either.

And Naruto nodded somewhat disinterestedly, “Ok.” 

The rest of the walk remained silent until Shikamaru paused, waiting for Naruto to catch up to him, “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“The orphanage, everything.”

“But that’s not your fault.”

“That’s not-” Shikamaru sighed and shook his head, “We’re friends right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what that means?”

“Helping?”

“That too,” Shikamaru smirked, “It means I’ll be here for you.”

\---

Asuma let them off for the night, saying they could report the mission on the following morning. And it had been quite the tiresome day so Naruto headed straight home, tracing along the river until his street came into view. But something else did too. Sasuke.

He was squatting at the edge, looking restlessly across the water. Naruto was planning to just keep walking but the small “Hey,” Sasuke breathed out stopped him.

Sasuke stood, spinning on his heel to face the blond, “You talked like you knew him- Itachi.”

Naruto tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, he really wasn’t supposed to be saying any of this, “Not personally,” he’d only spoken to the man once, “but he was Shisui’s friend. Shisui was a good person, he would choose good friends,” or he would make them good, with how he helped Naruto.

Sasuke’s eyes stared right past Naruto, “Well you didn’t know him as well as I did.”

“Was he a bad brother?” That seemed unthinkable.

Sasuke was silent.

“He kept you alive,” Maybe that was an overstep, both in how much information Naruto should have given away and what was conversationally polite. But Naruto was there and he knew that if Itachi wanted to kill Sasuke, he could have.

Sasuke’s hand tightened into a fist, “Only because I was unconscious. He was testing himself. If I had been awake, he would have fought me. And-” Sasuke’s mouth tightened into a strained frown, “and I could’ve gotten revenge for the other Uchihas he murdered.”

Naruto supposed it was his fault Sasuke was unconscious during that so with a quick bow, Naruto uttered a small, “Sorry.”

Sasuke looked away, “Whatever.”

He wasn’t saying anything else so Naruto turned to keep walking home. But Sasuke followed. Naruto eyed his tail silently, this was odd behavior, even for Sasuke. But Sasuke did seem like an odd kid. There wasn’t much Naruto could do about him anyway, it would be rude to turn Sasuke away without offering him tea first. 

“Wouldn’t you rather stop the massacre?” Naruto blurted out suddenly after a long silence.

“What?” and this time it was more genuine confusion than anger.

“You said you wished you could have gotten revenge back then,” Naruto teetered to a stop in front of the steps to his apartment, “but wouldn’t you rather stop it?”

“Probably… ” Sasuke’s eyes avoided Naruto and he shifted uncomfortably, “Do you live there?” Sasuke pointed up at the complex, it looked too small for a family. 

Naruto nodded, “Would you like tea?”

“With your family?” Sasuke looked distastefully at the door.

“I don’t have any,” Naruto tilted his head in confusion, why did people assume he did?

“Oh,” Sasuke mumbled to himself while turning around and walking away.

How odd. He never even answered Naruto’s invite.

\---

After reporting their mission, Asuma led team ten outside of the tower. But off in the outdoor seating of a nice restaurant, Tsunade was waiting. She was looking right at Naruto. 

The blond waved to his teammates and with a quick apology, he was moving to greet Tsunade. It had been a long time since she visited and she always brought warm hugs. Sure enough, when Naruto was close enough, she squatted down and enveloped him in a tight hug.

“You're so obedient,” She patted his hair twice. 

Naruto nodded because she said it made people happy when children were polite and obedient. And Tsunade always smiled and patted Naruto’s back when she was happy. She would say “I’m proud of you,” and it made his chest feel lighter.

“So you really did become a genin,” Tsunade laughed, “Good for you kid!” Yet she quickly deflated, Tsunade had planned to meet Naruto the day of his promotion but then news of pandemic spreading through rural villages outside of Konoha reached their walls.

“It was thanks to your guidance.”

But Tsunade shook her head, “It’s because you’re a hardworking and cute geki.”

“Cute?”

Tsunade stood with her hands on her hips, laughing proudly, “Yes! Being cute always helps.”

“Being cute helps others?”

Tsunade nodded sagely, “Well, people love cute things. So I suppose so,” her eyes gleamed, “Most importantly, you can get anything you want from people.”

“What do you want?”

“Money, luck, and sake, what else is there?”

She started walking away from the busy intersection and closer to the edge of the forest, “I can help,” Naruto piped next to her.

Tsunade’s grin dropped to a small smile, “Don’t worry about it kid,” she brought her hand up to her chin, “You’ve been spending a lot of time with those boys on your team, wanna be cute for them? You could get anything you want from them then.”

Naruto couldn't think of anything he really wanted. They trained a lot already and Shikamaru wouldn’t be happy if they trained more. Shikamaru and Shino fought a lot, but they never got truly angry at each other. So there wasn't anything Naruto wanted them to do.

“Will it make them happier?”

“Sure, especially Shikamaru,” She smirked and raised an eyebrow.

Naruto was still figuring that gesture, so he just asked, “What do you mean?”

“I assumed you liked him.”

Naruto nodded in confirmation, “I do like him”, Shikamaru was his friend. 

Tsunade shook her head, “love,” she corrected, “You guys are young, but I was sure you two were in love.”

Naruto wasn’t following. How was love different from liking? The term parent’s love had come up around him before but Naruto doubted he loved Shikamaru like _that_. And before he could clarify, Tsunade spun around to face the source of hushed giggling.

Her eyes blazed to life. She was livid, glaring down Jiraiya who was hiding in a tree overlooking the onsen.

“You pervert!” Tsunade screamed.

Jiraiya stumbled off the tree branch, rubbing his head sheepishly, “Hime…”

Tsunade looked about ready to punch him. Naruto decided to wave before Jiraiya started running away, “Hello.”

“Oh geki, didn’t see you there,” he waved, “Did you get even shorter,” Jiraiya grinned, squatting down with a hand over his eyes.

Tsunade shoved her arm in front of Naruto with a huff, “Don’t say that!”

Jiraiya ignored her, walking closer and closer until he could whisper directly into Naruto’s ear, “Did you read them?”

Tsunade had a keen ear for perverts and her eyes widened, face red, “You didn’t,” she screamed indignantly, “don’t involve him in your pervert fantasies!”

Tsunade turned to me frantically, “You didn’t read them, did you?”

Naruto wasn’t entirely sure how to explain. There was no way to make them both happy. Why couldn’t they can’t just want the same thing? “No, I didn’t understand the topic.”

Jiraiya slapped his forehead with his palm and groaned. But Tsunade was pleased and she ruffled his hair affectionately.

“Good, give them here, I’ll make sure you don’t have to deal with them again.”

“I gave them to Asuma-sensei.”

This seemed to get Jiraiya interested and Tsunade looked peeved, “No sensei of Naru is going to be a perv,” she whispered.

“He said he would give them to Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto didn’t want Asuma-sensei to get in trouble.

Jiraiya nodded, “A true connoisseur of my work.”

Tsunade rolled her eyes but smiled anyway, “If he ever bothers you again you come straight to me,” she cracked her knuckles, “And if I’m not here, tell Sensei to get me,” She had a gleam in her eyes when she looked at Jiraiya.

Naruto agreed hesitantly. He liked Jiraiya and he liked spending time with him, even if his books were distasteful.

\---

On his way home, Naruto made the concerted effort to avoid the river this time. Sasuke was just too odd for Naruto to decipher. Not to mention Naruto ended up going against the Hokage’s order each time he saw the boy. His best option was total avoidance.

But this time, Sasuke was sitting on the steps leading to Naruto’s apartment. How annoyingly unavoidable. But Naruto bowed his head in a greeting regardless, “Hello.”

“Hey,” Sasuke stood, walking down a few steps, hands in his pockets, stopping right in front of Naruto.

“Would you like to come over for tea?” Naruto tried once more.

“No,” Sasuke’s hand slipped from his pocket, “Here,” he shoved a book wrapped in a thin white cloth into Naruto’s hands.

Naruto looked down at the book in confusion before looking back up.

“I read that book- _A People's Untold History,_ ” Sasuke shrugged, “it was ok.”

“I found the frequent quotes useful-” Naruto cut himself off before he recited the book once more, “what’s this?” he held up the cloth-covered book.

“If you like reading,” Sasuke looked away with a frown, “Shisui gave it to Itachi. We’re getting rid of his stuff anyway so you can keep it,” and with that Sasuke turned around. With a hand up in a small wave, Sasuke disappeared once again. Naruto gripped the book, he just didn’t understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extra late chapter, this time it was my college final.
> 
> Still, hope you liked it!


	8. 10%

The casino was unsurprisingly packed on a Friday. And Shikamaru was in the middle of it all, seated at the biggest poker table in the joint. Shikamaru preferred the slow, drawn-out tempo of shogi over card games like poker but a mission was a mission.

There were five people seated around the table but only one was particularly notable; Kin playing on behalf of the Yasusa family. Neatly gelled red hair, eyes squinted shut, and a permanent grin, Shikamaru had to admit the man had a good poker face. Even then, it wasn’t too hard to pick up on the way that Kin’s hand hovered above his cards on certain matches. It was as if he was trying to further shield his cards- those were the good hands. The other players were even more obvious, the only female would incessantly flick the edge of her rightmost card when she had a winning deck.

With or without those signs, Shikamaru would have won the game. A whisper breezed past Shikamaru’s ear, Naruto’s voice no doubt,  _ one pair, no pair, flush _ . 

Luck was on his side, Shikamaru had a full house, he would be taking this hand. The cards were the only thing left up to chance, and even then, they had Shino dealing the cards to level the playing field. Both he and Shikamaru were under a genjutsu to appear a decade older than they were. Naruto didn’t bother, he was invisible either way.

An unfair game was a boring game, there were no stakes when Naruto, and Shikamaru by proxy, knew what cards every player had. But if Shikamaru wanted to have fun, he wouldn't be playing poker. Their client specified they wanted things to go over as smoothly as possible, obtaining the prize of the poker game as legitimately as appearances would allow.

Things were going over smoothly for the moment. It wouldn’t last, Shikamaru could feel the shadows stirring. Something about this game wasn’t right and Shikamaru was willing to bet the casino wasn’t about to let him walk away with the prize that easily.

The prize, a creepy-looking porcelain oni mask, was sealed within a large glass case in the back of the casino. Shikamaru couldn’t imagine why their client would want such a thing, going as far as to stake 5 million ryo on it, not to mention the 1 million buy-in. Just another reason they couldn’t lose. If- when they won, all the money went to the winner with 20% going to the house, a pretty steep sum considering the total pool was up to 50 million ryo currently.

It was hardly a C-rank, it needed a certain amount of skill and precision most genin teams lacked. It was only even ranked as one because the client promised there would be no other ninja interfering.

Shikamaru laid down a straight, hardly a great hand, but it was an easy bet when Naruto confirmed it was the highest one. What an unexciting end to the game, a straight hand. Well, at least it was over, Shikamaru stood, poker chip in hand, “Thanks for the game,” Shikamaru gave a lazy smirk across the table to Kin, the man’s grin hadn’t dropped even in defeat.

“Wait,” Kin’s voice was cold and harsh, “It seems you have cheated us out of a good match.”

“Cheated?” Well, it was true but Shikamaru was confident no one noticed, “And what evidence do you have of that?” Kin was quiet but that grin seemed a whole lot more scheming now, “Unless of course,” Shikamaru continued, “you were attempting to cheat yet managed to lose regardless?”

With a quick wave from Kin, Shikamaru was surrounded by swords pointing at his face. The other poker players tried scrambling away but were easily caught. The casino was in chaos. Shikamaru let his eyes fall closed, this wasn’t unexpected but Shikamaru really had hoped this would be one of their cleaner missions. They seemed to have a knack for attracting trouble. 

Shikamaru cracked open his eyes to scan the men surrounding him. Amongst them, Asuma was grinning at him. His sensei’s sword was pointing straight at his neck. Shikamaru had to repress the grumble of annoyance, “You’re taking quite a risk, don’t you think?” Shikamaru twirled the poker chip in his fingers, “pulling a stunt like this in another family’s casino. The casino will surely retaliate against the Yasusa… unless, of course, that was all a cover and you work for the casino?”

“Perhaps,” Kin’s smile hadn’t changed, “if you know so much why not leave peacefully? You couldn’t possibly defeat all these men.”

“You would be willing to let me go?” Shikamaru laughed dryly, “after I figured out your identity? If word spreads, your casino would be ruined. No, I imagine you would just prefer to stab me in the back as I leave.”

“Right once more,” this time his grin stretched farther, “That mask is a loan from a very important man and once we return it along with the 50 million from the game we will have all our debts paid.”

“It seems we ruined a very thorough plan,” Shikamaru was tossing the chip up by short increments, “so sorry.”

“We?”

Shikamaru flung the chip in the air, grabbed the edge of the poker table, and launched off it to land a kick directly on one guard's chest. The table flipped onto its side, catching the swords of the attacking guards. The swords snapped in half on impact. That was what Asuma had been doing during the whole game, using Naruto’s seals to sabotage their weapons. 

Shikamaru kicked the table forward, sending the five men in front of him into the wall. A rush of air breezed past Shikamaru’s back and he didn’t have to turn around to know Naruto had taken care of all the men behind him. Asuma was hardly putting in an ounce of effort to fight off the other guards, one hand behind his back, the other easily parrying sword attacks. 

“Stop,” Shino’s monotonous voice cut through the battleground. He had Kin, face down trapped on another poker table, a kunai to his throat, “If you value his life you will cease fighting.”

Shikamaru smirked, “I was wondering when you were planning on helping.”

“Shut up,” Shino hissed, “This idiot tried to sneak away. Did you even notice?”

“I didn’t,” Naruto bowed his head, hands clasped together.

“Well I did,” Shikamaru’s shadow retreated back to his body when the guards stopped fighting, “Whatever, good job.”

“Wow was that so hard to say?” Shino smirked.

“Yeah, actually it was,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"What the hell?" Kin managed to roll his head to the side, "did you forget we were still here assholes?"

Naruto bowed his head once more, "I did, sorry."

Shino let up on his grip just to bring it back down, banging Kin's face against the decorative wood grain of the table.

Naruto bent down to pick up the rolling poker chip, “But he is right, we are quite busy.”

Asuma, who had just been watching in amusement, nodded, “You can finish this up some other time. This is a mission.”

“Yeah yeah,” Shikamaru caught the chip Naruto tossed to him and walked to the shivering croupier standing by the encased mask. He wasn’t all that resistant in giving up the prize. Naruto had long since snagged the prize money. Shino dragged Kin up, walking backward to the exit. And the guards watched frozen.

Before getting out completely, Shino pushed Kin back into the casino and pulled the doors shut. Naruto was right behind him, strapping a binding seal to the duel doors.

“At least that's over,” Shikamaru stretched his arms back as his genjutsu dropped. It was oddly peaceful, feeling the tension draining away “... they probably have other doors right?”

“Probably,” Shino agreed.

“We should run?” Naruto tucked the mask away into a seal.

“We should run,” Asuma confirmed.

Their client's house flaunted his wealth carelessly. It probably should have been expected of a man with enough money to easily stake six million in a poker match.

He was waiting at the front of his house, standing rigidly still in anticipation.

Asuma bowed first, “Tabito-san.”

“Do you have it?” his eyes didn’t meet Asuma’s, instead, wandering his form, “the mask and the six million.”

“Yes,” Asuma smiled cordially, “But I have to warn you we ran into some complications.”

“I see…” Tabito’s eyes landed on his wooden floorboards, “as long as you procured the prize.”

Asuma bowed his head and pat Naruto on the shoulder. The blond kneeled down, laying flat the scroll. The mask and large satchel of money appeared atop of it.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Shikamaru watched their client carefully, “what did you want that thing for?”

“Ah nothing much, it holds some personal value,” Tabito smiled plainly.

“Someone mentioned it was a valuable possession of an incredibly important man,” Shikamaru pushed.

“Well, there are some rumors. Silly things, the mask holds magical properties and stories like that. But it’s nothing like that, it’s a normal mask that once belonged to my family,” Tabito’s grip tightened once he had the mask, “Simple family attachments.”

Shikamaru didn’t bother questioning it further and the team left quickly.

“...He was lying,” Shikamaru frowned, eyes closed.

Naruto nodded, “the mask was imbued with seals.”

“But we completed the mission. It’s not our business,” Shino recited but he too was frowning.

“Shino’s right,” Asuma reassured, “We got paid.”

“Speaking of which,” Shikamaru opened his eyes to glance at Naruto, “what did you do with the rest of the 50 million ryo?” the client only wanted his own stake back.

“I left it in the casino,” Naruto clapped his hands together softly, “that man said they were in debt.”

Shikamaru smirked, “They’re still screwed without the mask.”

“But it’s better than nothing,” Naruto held firm.

\---

Asuma had kept his promise, much to the dismay of Shikamaru, the group switched to only taking C-ranks after that first successful mission.

They had a routine with missions, Shikamaru complained, Shino argued back, Naruto nodded along in agreement, and Asuma clapped them all on the back, telling them this- _ this _ was the experience they needed to be the perfect team.

So Hiruzen knew full well what to expect when team 10 came into his office.

“Hokage-sama, we’re ready,” Asuma smoked casually while his genin silently elbowed each other behind him. 

Hiruzen did try to plan the teams in a way to prioritize friendship and longevity, but this team was almost too tight. It was a bit worrying, losing a teammate on a mission was hard enough, especially when they’re bonds were so deep. But it was the most reliable genin team he had.

“I’m going to be sending you as back up for team Kakashi.”

Asuma raised an eyebrow, “What’d he get himself into this time?”

“Unknown, he just sent a letter asking for backup. His team’s mission was to protect a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. C-rank.”

“Anything else?”

Hiruzen handed Asuma the decoded letter and the Hokage was right, it had no further explanation.

“We did do a little background check. A man named Gato has a shipping company set up in the Land of Waves. It is shady and not a lot is known about it but there has yet to be any proof of illegal activity. His financial stability rests on the fact that there is no bridge into the Land of Waves.”

“You think Gato is trying to kill the bridge builder?”

“There is no evidence, but ye-”

Both men stopped when they heard two simultaneous groans from the back of the room.

Asuma turned around to see Naruto staring straight ahead with no expression while Shino and Shikamaru were holding their ribs in pain.

“Are you even listening?”

“Yes sensei,” Naruto answered while Shikamaru was still coughing. Naruto had a hard elbow.

Asuma was in lecture mode, “You nee-”

“Naruto, come here,” Hiruzen called. And Naruto listened immediately walking to the Hokage.

“Eh?” Asuma turned back towards the Hokage, “Dad,” he whispered, “sorry it won’t happen aga-”

“Naruto are you happy?” Hiruzen pat Naruto’s head, “Are they bullying you?” he pinched the blond’s cheeks.

“No Jiji,” Naruto tried to speak while Hiruzen continued to pull on his cheeks, “I am very happy.”

“Are you sure,” Hiruzen continued, “You can stop being a ninja anytime you want.”

“Dad,” Asuma sighed, “Stop pressuring my student.”

“Pressuring him? I’m not pressuring him,” Hiruzen looked appalled, “Am I pressuring you Naruto?”

The blond couldn’t answer before Asuma spoke, “the mission Hokage-sama?”

Hiruzen sighed, throwing a look at Naruto, “I want your team to spy on Gato. If there is evidence that he is interfering with the mission or partaking in illegal activities, dispose of him however you see fit.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to send a jounin team for this? We really don’t have enough information yet,” Asuma cautioned. 

“You are correct,” Hiruzen nodded, “however, I have to trust that Kakashi continued because he believes the mission is possible and will give his genin valuable experience. I’m afraid that would not be possible if a highly skilled team is sent. And you are the most experienced genin team,” Hiruzen pointed out. There were other genin teams that had been together longer, but none took so many C-ranks. Purely field-experience wise, team 10 was winning even with only 5 months of teamwork. 

Asuma scratched his head, he couldn’t really say no. Well, he  _ could _ but that would look bad on his genin. And espionage was their strong suit… “When do we leave?”

“Today, as soon as possible. I will warn Kakashi. If you can find him, do meet with him but otherwise, your teams will work individually.”

Asuma wasn’t sure if Shikamaru was rubbing off on him or this mission was really too much, but he had a feeling this would be quite troublesome.

And it was, because just the process of getting to their mission was troublesome. They managed to make it to the ocean by nightfall, but that meant they had been running for four hours straight. No matter how much all of them wanted to call it a day, the next step, crossing the ocean, was even more difficult.

Because the only boats that crossed between shores were Gato’s and Asuma doubted any of them would willingly help Konoha shinobi. So they only had one choice: to cross themselves. Swimming wasn’t an option considering the cold water and strong tides.

So Asuma would have to teach his team to walk on water and they were on a time limit. They had to be over the water by the next day. It was imperative they start work as soon as possible. Asuma only could thank himself for teaching the genin, well Shikamaru and Shino, how to walk on trees earlier. Naruto had an instinctive knowledge of how to do it already.

Asuma clapped his hands, successfully getting his team’s attention. They were all sitting on the ground, huddled behind some bushes on the edge of the water. 

“No sleeping just yet, I’m gonna teach you something really cool,” Asuma stepped back, walking onto the ocean behind him, “ta-da,” he waited for a reaction but there wasn’t any. 

Shino and Shikamaru stared blankly. At least Naruto was clapping even if he did appear unimpressed.

Shikamaru threw Asuma an odd look, “Eh? Is that it?”

“What is the cool thing?” Shino asked.

And Asuma realized something. Shino and Shikamaru only ever agreed when it came to insulting him, “Well if you’re all experts, do it yourself.”

“What a drag,” Shikamaru flopped onto his back.

But Naruto nodded, standing and taking off his shorts.

Shikamaru looked over and jumped onto his feet, “Woah, woah, what are you doing?” he was waving his arms furiously. It was the most Naruto had ever seen Shikamaru move at one time.

“What if we fall in the water,” Naruto continued unstrapping his kimono top.

“He is right, we might get sick if our clothes get wet and cold,” Shino nodded and started unzipping his jacket, and Shikamaru did  _ not _ want to see that.

“Well, we don’t have to strip  _ that _ much.”

“Not all of us wear the bare minimum of what classifies as clothes,” Shino fired back.

Naruto stopped before taking the kimono off, “Does it make you unhappy?” 

Shikamaru scratched his head, looking uncomfortable. Shikamaru didn’t really know why he didn’t want Naruto to strip, all he knew was that his brain was not ready for that reality, “It-it’s not that…” 

Naruto studied Shikamaru carefully before nodding and walking behind some trees, “I’ll practice over here then,” the foliage was just thick enough to hide his body from view.

Asuma smirked at Shikamaru, “I’ll start helping Naruto since he’s actually ready.”

Shino looked at Shikamaru and raised an eyebrow, “Are you going to make me go hide somewhere too?”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and began taking off his mesh shirt, “I don’t care what you do.”

“Oho, but you care about Naruto?” Shino sounded very pleased with himself, “You should’ve taken your chance to-”

“Get off it already will ya?” Shikamaru threw the rest of his clothes in an unceremonious pile on the ground, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Asuma reappeared before they could keep bickering, “I’m back, good for you two, Naruto’s a fast learner.”

“He already got it?” Shino asked as he and Shikamaru stood at the shore. 

“Yep. Fell in twice then got it.”

Shikamaru looked around, “where is he then?” Shino smirked at him but Shikamaru ignored him.

“I told him to keep practicing,” Asuma gave a solid thumbs-up, “He’ll probably join us in a few minutes. In the meantime, just channel chakra to your feet and get on the water. It's just a slightly more advanced chakra control technique like tree walking. You all seemed to get that down quickly so I trust you won’t-”

Before Asuma could finish both boys had already splashed under the waves.

“It’s freezing,” Shikamaru complained. 

Shino swam out and tried again, successfully taking a few steps, smirking down at Shikamaru who glared back.

Shikamaru followed him out, both taking slow steps further out into the ocean on wobbly legs. And both fell in soon after. Asuma watched the ever-repeating pattern with amusement. They were getting better, quite rapidly as well, but that wasn’t necessarily a surprise. They, as well as Naruto, used jutsu that required delicate chakra control. 

Asuma was just about to compliment the duo when Naruto came out of the trees again, fully dressed, his wet hair hanging to his shoulders.

“Goodluck,” Naruto called as he tried to sweep his bangs out of his eyes.

Shikamaru instantly fell again, really going down this time and sputtering for air when he swam back up. Shino snickered and kept going.

He grumbled as he swam back to shore and had to restart, this time his cheeks burning. Shikamaru never really cared about failing before, so why was he so embarrassed now?

“What a pain,” he whispered to himself.

The next day, early in the morning, the team crossed the ocean quickly. Not a lot of places to hide in the middle of the ocean so it was good the fog was extra thick at sunrise.

The island was quite large but following the coast easily led the group to the majority of docked ships. It was a decent starting point at least. 

Asuma let his team track down the base. The thugs who did most of the transport weren’t exactly subtle and the footprints all formed one general trail.

So it didn’t take long for the group to find the strange base of operations. It was fully carved from wood and looked as if it was a growth coming out of the left side of a particularly large tree. The lair was massive, shaped somewhat similar to a honeycomb. 

Shino let a few bugs escape the sleeve of his coat and they easily wiggled themselves into the base. But that was all for the first day, team 10 would retreat for the moment, setting up camp a few kilometers away.

“Alright gang, I’ll go find Kakashi. You three stay here. Sleep, train, do whatever but be ready to leave at nightfall. Do not engage until I get back. Is that understood?”

“Yes Sensei,” the genin chorused with very poor synchronization. 

And he was gone in seconds. Naruto stood, walking out of the camp.

“Where are you going?” Shikamaru sighed letting his eyes close. 

“Collecting herbs. I read there are a lot here.”

“We should stick together,” Shino warned, standing up, “we are still close to their base.”

Naruto nodded and looked expectantly at Shikamaru, “Fine, this place is too shady for a good nap anyway.”

Naruto sniffed the air and followed his nose. The group fell into silence as Naruto and Shino picked herbs and Skimaru took a nap. After a few hours, they were ready to move to a different field but Naruto stuck out his arm.

“Naruto?” Shikamaru looked down.

“Someone’s there.”

The group inched slightly closer and sure enough, a kimono-clad person was crouched down in the field they had been planning on going to, collecting the herbs  _ they _ planned to take.

“It’s just a girl,” Shikamaru yawned.

“It’s a boy,” Naruto whispered and both of his teammates turned to look at him.

“Are you sure?” Shikamaru whispered gravely. Naruto nodded, positive.

“Oh…” Shino scrunched his brows as a bug buzzed around his face, “He’s one of them. He came from the base.”

Shikamaru cracked his arm, Naruto winced, but only slightly this time, “What a pain… I guess it’s time to start our mission.”

“But Sensei told us not to engage,” Naruto didn’t budge even as his two teammates started leaving.

“Shikamaru is correct. We cannot pass up this opportunity,” Shino nodded.

Naruto bit his lip, "But orders…"

"We can take care of it without you if you like?" Shikamaru put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. It wasn't often the blond showed distress. 

But Naruto shook his head, that was still disobeying orders, it was just both disobeying and abandoning his team.

"If you're really against it we can wait," Shino sighed, "why? Because a team makes decisions as a group."

And Naruto was really against it but he wanted to trust his team, his friends. They respected him enough to wait for him. The least he could do was support them. So he shook his head quickly with his eyes tightly shut, "No, let's go."

“Let’s get this over with quick,” Shikamaru murmured while his shadow extended out from his body, connecting to the boy’s. 

Naruto approached carefully, making sure to stay out of his peripheral vision. Once he was close enough to touch the male, he made a single hand sign then put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Another genjutsu Naruto developed, it played out the victim's anxieties in front of them in a dream-like fashion, and Naruto was watching the scene carefully. 

Naruto hit the taller male’s neck and the boy passed out. Shino and Shikamaru emerged from the treeline.

“Who is he?” Shikamaru asked

“Zabuza’s accomplice.”

“Who?” Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

“Buff male with a sword,” Naruto paused, trying to remember the details, “missing-nin too,” Naruto pointed at the unconscious boy, “Haku, a ninja with kekkei-genkai.”

Shino looked down at Haku, definitely didn’t look like a ninja, but he was on a team with Naruto, the most delicate-looking boy he had ever seen, so Shino didn’t think much of it.

“Guess I should tie him up then, huh?” Shikamaru looked tired just thinking about it.

“Yes,” Naruto flipped through his collection of seals until he found one, chakra suppression seal. Shino carried the boy back to base, tying him securely to the tree opposite their hastily strung tent.

They only spent a few minutes at camp before Asuma arrived. 

The jounin waved as he entered the camp sight, “Hey gang-” Asuma’s hand dropped, “What did you guys do?” his eyes snapped to the person tied to a tree. 

“I told you to not engage and you kidnapped some girl?” Asuma rubbed a hand over his face while putting out his cigarette. 

“It’s a boy,” Naruto corrected.

“Really? Oh…” Asuma carefully observed the male, “wait, that doesn’t matter!”

“Sensei, he was leaving Gato’s base,” Shino explained.

"That makes it doubly bad," Asuma ranted, "do you know all the things that could have gone wrong? He could have attacked you or gotten help or revealed our position. I'm pretty disappointed, I thought you would have known better."

"We did know all that," Shikamaru argued, "but it was one person and we were cautious and it was a rare opportunity. And don't drag Naruto into this."

"Why? Because he did not agree with our plan," Shino sat perfectly straight but his eyes were on the ground in front of him.

Naruto frowned, "I did agree."

"No, you were resistant," Shikamaru tried to hush Naruto.

But the blond was feeling a bit defiant, "but I didn't stop you when you gave me the option."

"we pressured you," Shino shook his head.

"I helped you instead of stopping you-"   


“-Fine,” Asuma cut them off, “it's fine. At least you worked as a team and nothing happened," Shikamaru muttered under his breath but Asuma ignored it, "who is this kid?”

“Haku, Zabuza’s helper,” Naruto answered.

“Zabuza? Kakashi did mention he fought him. Said a kid with long hair rescued Zabuza at the last minute,” Asuma nodded his head, “Kakashi suspected Zabuza was alive and would be back to fight in three days. But what do we do with the kid?”

“Hostage?” Shino suggested.

“The chances of that working on a missing-nin are low,” Asuma rubbed his beard.

“Zabuza might think Gato killed Haku and kill Gato in turn,” Shikamaru was resting against a tree with his eyes closed.

“Why would he suspect Gato?” Asuma raised an eyebrow

“Haku doesn’t trust Gato, he was scared Gato would try to kill Zabuza while he was injured,” Naruto recalled.

“He will probably kill Gato or go looking for Kakashi-sensei’s team,” Shino added.

Asuma sighed, “It’s best to just keep Haku out of the way for the moment. If he works with Zabuza, he’s most likely strong.”

“We can get rid of Zabuza before he’s healed,” Shikamaru stated.

Asuma nodded, “We have two nights to find him. If we don’t, we’ll leave him to Kakashi,” It wasn’t the most structured plan but they didn’t have a whole lot of information to go off of yet, “Kakashi beat him once before.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could you tell I rewatched Casino Royal?
> 
> This is mostly a character-oriented story but I am trying to throw more action in there. Sorry if it's confusing, I'm still figuring out how to approach writing fight scenes. If you have any suggestions or criticism please leave it in the comments.
> 
> Thank you for reading as always!


	9. Look Easy

Team ten set off at sundown like planned. They perched on a thick branch overlooking the diamond-shaped lair.

“First thing’s first,” Asuma whispered while his genin huddled around him, “We have to prove that Gato is guilty.”

“We already know he is, why? He hired Zabuza to kill a man,” Shino murmured.

“You think that’s enough?” Shikamaru had his eyes closed and a hand under his chin, “Gato’s rich which means he’s powerful. No one’s gonna buy a half-assed excuse like that.”

“What’s with the old man pose?” Shino squinted over his glasses.

Asuma swiftly hit both of them over the head, “Not today, this is important. But Shikamaru is right, we need more tangible evidence.”

“Would evidence be proof of a deal or money transaction? Would Gato have something like that?” Naruto frowned at the ground, they really should clean up their front lawn better.

“It’s possible although I’m not sure how likely,” Asuma shrugged, “but he isn’t just suspected of assassination, any other evidence of a crime can be seized.”

Shino raised his hand, “Seized how?”

“That’s where a plan comes in,” Asuma grinned. Everyone’s eyes turned to Shikamaru but they stayed silent.

Shikamaru sighed as loudly as he could, “Naruto would be the obvious choice for infiltration but even if you use your invisibility genjutsu people will still see doors opening and closing.”

“I can sense if there’s a person on the other side of the door,” Naruto gave a thumbs up while blankly staring at Shikamaru.

“All the people are gathered on the bottom floors, why? It is most likely the living quarters,” Shino pointed at the occupied floors, “So we can’t exactly go through the front door.”

“That's fine,” Shikamaru shrugged, “if we’re planning to steal-”

“-recuperate,” Asuma cut in.

“If we plan to  _ recuperate _ stuff,” Shikamaru glared, “then we need multiple entrances, one in each room we will be  _ recuperating _ from. So Naruto will just make an entrance in an empty room. Do you still have that crumbling seal? Is it big enough?”

Naruto nodded, he carried quite a few, it was good for makeshift escapes. The seal made a large clean hole on any surface. 

“Good,” Shikamaru turned to look at the base, “use them in the rooms with problematic stuff- drugs, weapons, large stacks of money.”

“You think he’ll have piles of money just lying around?” Shino was beyond skeptical.

“Huh?” Shikamaru turned to scowl at Shino, “He’s filthy rich-”

“I said,” Asuma flicked both of them on the head, “leave it for another day. Shino, do you know where Zabuza is?”

“No, why? Because I can’t track the signature of someone I don’t know.”

Asuma nodded slowly, “Then I guess looking for Zabuza is near impossible. If you do happen to find him Naruto, don’t engage but give the signal,” Asuma scratched his head, “Oh well, the most important thing is to avoid fighting,” and with that, they split up.

Shikamaru circled around the building, guarding the outside while Asuma went high, standing on the tree that supported the building.

Shino led Naruto to a spot on the wooden structure. Below them should be an empty room, the one farthest from any heat signatures Shino could find. Naruto placed down his crumbling seal and a good-sized hole appeared in the wood. Naruto looked down, it was empty. He nodded and Shino passed him the crudely drawn map of the base he was able to make with help from his bugs. Naruto took it graciously, jumped down, and covered the hole with a genjutsu and a seal that kept the genjutsu in place. 

Shino watched as the hole sealed up perfectly, the grain of the wood was impeccably precise. Shino reached down pushing his hand to where the hole should have been. His hand fell through but the genjutsu stayed in place. It looked as if his hand was being swallowed by the wood, it was a bit too trippy for Shino so he stood and made his way back down to where Shikamaru was.

The room Naruto landed in appeared to be an abandoned closet, empty shelves lined the walls now housing cobwebs and small spiders. There was no one on the other side of the door, that was the hope of infiltrating the base at night, but even then, Naruto could feel distant signatures within the top half of the base. Following Shino’s mostly accurate map, Naruto made his way around the long, thin, winding hallways, checking behind each door. Naruto frowned down at the slightly crumpled piece of paper, the staircase for each floor was in a different location. What an annoying layout.

Going down a floor led to his first real discovery, a man leaning against the wall, sleeping. He was probably supposed to be guarding the door because behind it laid a shelf stacked with packed white bricks, some sort of drug no doubt.

At least, with only their first night, team ten had already confirmed that Gato's business was illegal. Naruto had just enough upper body strength to move a ceiling-high drug shelf a few inches right. This room was likely less abandoned then the first room and would require a bit more care in setting up the mole holes.

Naruto stuck his head through the hole and looked up. Asuma was smoking his cigarette while squatting. He looked down and waved at the blond. It seemed casual, but his shoulders were tense and that tension only relieved slightly when Naruto returned with a thumb up before slipping inside again. 

Naruto finished with five holes scattered through the base. All of them were around the middle or top, mostly leading into storage rooms of weapons. Gato had enough of a stockpile to start a small revolution.

Shikamaru and Shino got to quick work with securing the rooms Naruto accessed. Systematically, they made their way through the rooms that weren’t guarded and removed the supplies, drugs, and money Gato had laying around in heaps. Not enough to raise any suspicion, but effectively whittling away at the resources available.

Naruto was about ready to leave once the sun started rising but he heard talking from inside the main room, right in the middle of the conical base. There was a staircase that led into the room in a way that let Naruto bypass the door, so the blond snuck around the side and entered the office.

And there he was, Gato, looking surprisingly solemn while flicking his hands through large stacks of money.

There were five other men in the room, thugs.

“I don’t care if he’s healed, he will kill the bridge builder in two days,” Gato’s voice was naturally loud and it carried across the room, “take all your men and follow him. Dispose of Zabuza once the mission is complete.”

“And if the ninjas kill him first?”

Gato shrugged and it seemed the matter really didn’t concern him, “Then kill the ninjas. He’s gotta be good for something, Zabuza will at least wear them down,” his hand brushed through the stack one last time before he threw the money down on the desk, “whoever kills the bridge builder and Zabuza, will be compensated in full.”

Naruto faintly heard a distant knocking, the signal for regrouping. The signal was supposed to be a woodpecker but it sounded more like a blunt hatchet. It was probably Shino, he didn’t really have an ear for minute sounds. By all means, Shino's other senses made up for it, but nonetheless, Naruto wondered who let Shino make the signal as he slid out of the office.

Naruto found his team quickly in spite of Shino's poor bird imitations.

"Got held up?" Shikamaru tried to appear casual but his worry leaked through.

"They were having a meeting," Naruto nodded, "Gato plans to send Zabuza after the bridge builder in two days. And he wants the men that work for him to kill Zabuza once he's done."

"You saw Gato?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "what does he look like?"

Naruto made odd gestures around his head, "Weird hair."

"Is it more like this," Shino joined in on the gesturing, drawing a crown in the air, "or like this?" Making a 'w' with his fingers.

"Like-"

Asuma placed a hand on Naruto's head, "I think the more important matter is that now we know Gato's base will be empty in two days."

"They're both pretty important," Shikamaru shrugged.

Asuma gave him a scornful glance, “This makes our plan easier. The best course of action will be to get rid of Gato when all his cronies are gone, clear out the base, and leave as little evidence that Konoha was involved.”

“There are two guards that stay with Gato,” Naruto warned.

“Ninja?” Asuma asked and Naruto shook his head, “then it won’t change our plans.” 

Shikamaru waved the scrolls filled with the supplies pilfered from Gato's office, “Anyone in specific this all goes too?”

Asuma shrugged, “We’ll give it Hokage-sama who will probably hand it back over to the legitimate governing body of the Land of Waves, nothing we gotta worry about.” 

"Don't know if being this rich would be nice or troublesome," Shikamaru looked at the scrolls wistfully.

"It would have to be nice, why? Because you wouldn't have to worry about anything."

"It's more than you could spend in one lifetime," Asuma joined in, "kind of wasteful."

"But you wouldn't have to work," Shikamaru wondered just how illegal it would be to pocket a couple million from the stacks of money.

Naruto watched them with a confused tilt of his head, "You are already rich."

"Rich? Hardly," Shino shook his head, "... Well, not this rich anyway."

Naruto didn't see a difference, they all hailed from clans and had properties ten, maybe twenty times the size of Naruto's apartment.

"None of you should be worried about money at your age anyway," Asuma squinted his eyes and looked out into the sunrise, “Get some sleep guys, we repeat this tonight.”

The next night was the same as the first, clearing out inventory and watching Gato. Nothing exciting. And no sign on Zabuza. But Asuma dismissed it. It wouldn’t interfere with they’re plan. Zabuza would be Kakashi's problem.

So the next day, Asuma led his team into the main office. 

The building was deadly silent. All the thugs were gone and that meant on the other side of the door, Gato was unprotected. That was, at least, what they had thought until they opened the door.

Gato was pushed up against his desk with Zabuza holding a kunai to his neck. This wasn't right.

"Stop, stop," Gato squirmed, "I'll give you whatever you want- money? Do you want money?"

Gato's guards were cowering against the wall, huddled away from the commotion. Asuma stuck his arms out, pushing his genin behind him.

Zabuza stiffened, they had been noticed.

“See? Look, they probably have him,” Gato shouted desperately, pointing at the Konoha-nin, “I swear I didn’t touch Haku!”

Zabuza turned to face the group, the bandages around his mouth scrunched up in an unpleasant smile and he threw Gato out of the way, his two bodyguards coiled around Gato's side immediately.

“You’ve got Haku huh?” Zabuza pointed his monstrous blade at the team.

“I don’t know what you're talking about, we have nothing to do with you,” Asuma narrowed his eyes. They had messed up, they miscalculated.

“Konoha huh? are you part of Kakashi’s team?” Zabuza growled out.

There was virtually no denying it, they were wearing the identifying headbands.

“No answer? I’ll just beat it from you.”

Team 10 acted quickly, Shikamaru’s shadow connected to Zabuza and Naruto cast a genjutsu. Shino’s swarm started emerging and Asuma got out his trench knives, rearing up to kill or at least severely wound Zabuza.

But the room filled killing intent, soaking the room with the smell of blood. The illusion shattered.

“You think this can hold me?” Zabuza’s hand shook, clutching the sword, but his hand moved just in time to defend against Asuma’s attack and snapped Shikamaru’s shadow connection.

Ten water clones filled the room and it was all the team could do to just stay alive in what now felt like the world’s smallest office. Gato was running and Gato’s guards would prevent anyone from running after him. Not that they were the problem, Zabuza was the problem. 

Asuma made his own clone that went after Gato, easily bypassing the two thugs, and Zabuza didn’t seem all too concerned with Gato. Asuma then turned, using a wind ninjutsu to quickly cut through three of the clones and push Zabuza up against the wall. But the missing-nin countered with a water jutsu that broke the wall and pushed Asuna out of the room with the two bodyguards. It would only work as a distraction for a minute, maybe two. But in battle, a few seconds could change the course of a match.

Naruto was doing everything he could to touch Zabuza but there happened to be seven of them in the room, and all of them had long, sharp swords. The sharp part didn’t matter much to Naruto, but it still worked to stop Naruto from getting too close. Shikamaru was able to freeze the clones at least with the shadow possession and Naruto was throwing senbon needles when he could to help but his eyes were desperately searching for the real Zabuza.

Naruto bit his lip when a sword finally did hit his back, slashing a large hole into Naruto’s top. 

“So you don’t cut,” Zabuza seemed far too jovial and Naruto darted off the ground, easily dodging the sword of a different clone.

But he couldn’t dodge the hand that caught Naruto’s neck and slammed his head into the wall, his body bruising and trying to instantly heal itself, but Zabuza held Naruto in place, “You can still choke can’t ya?”

Shikamaru tore away from the clone mercilessly swinging his sword at him, “Naruto!” Shikamaru threw a kunai at Zabuza and it stuck into his shoulder. He didn’t burst into water, it was the real one. But the clone behind Shikamaru got a good swing in and Shikamaru fell onto his knees, a deep gash in his side.

Naruto’s eyes widened watching Shikamaru fall to the ground, and his hands clawed up until they were firmly wrapped around Zabuza’s arm.

“And what’s that going to-” before Zabuza could finish, Naruto’s body erupted with red chakra, burning Zabuza. The missing-nin pulled his hand away with a hiss and Naruto immediately sprinted away, throwing three senbon that lodged themselves in the clone’s neck before it could swing at Shikamaru again.

The Nara pulled himself up against a wall and pressed an arm into the heavily bleeding wound. Naruto ripped his sleeve off, giving it to Shikamaru and pressing his hand to Shikamaru’s side. It glowed blue and the bleeding slowed before Naruto felt a sword hit his back again.

“Naruto,” Shikamaru called, breaking Naruto out of focus, “Go help Shino,” he tried to push Naruto away but the blond grit his teeth, barring another hit from the sword. Just because it didn’t kill him didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

Naruto dropped his seals in front of Shikamaru. He always carried them because Shikamaru complained it was too much of a pain to remember what they all looked like, but Naruto knew Shikamaru had memorized them. Because that was the type of person Shikamaru was. He slapped a barrier seal down and the second the next swing came, electricity jolts popped the clone.

Naruto got back up, looking for Zabuza who now had a large gash in his shoulder and a burnt arm. It shouldn’t have been hard to spot but with the chaos that was going on inside that small office, it was basically impossible. The room was now filled with ankle-deep water and the splash that accompanied every movement didn't help the visibility. Naruto engaged another clone, stabbing it with a pair of scissors left on Gato's desk before being thrown into the wall by a different clone. His shoulder dislocated and his ribs cracked but healed within seconds.

Shino wasn’t so lucky when he crashed against the wall next to Naruto. He was immediately knocked out and there was blood trickling from the back of his head. Naruto dodged the sword trying to decapitate him, picked up Shino, and started dragging him to Shikamaru with immense difficulty. 

Naruto felt the attacks stop and looked up. Asuma was back and easily got rid of two more water clones. Naruto sat Shino up against the wall next to Shikamaru and quickly bandaged his head with whatever scraps of his clothing were left.

Naruto’s body vanished, reappearing only when he successfully hit a clone or was hit by one. It was draining to cloak himself with the genjutsu each time it was broken, but he was getting closer, he’d hit the real Zabuza a few times already. The water stirred around Naruto's feet, rising to encase him. Then there was an explosion. Shikamaru threw an exploding kunai at the wall, breaking it completely this time. The water immediately drained out. 

Asuma managed to single out the real body and they started fighting while Naruto rounded off the last of the clones. But the fight was dragging into a stalemate until Zabuza froze. Shikamaru's waning consciousness was apparent but he was still fully focused.

"Shadow possession complete."

“Hah? I thought I showed you that won’t-” 

But Naruto was already at Zabuza’s side, fingers pressed into the tissue of his neck. Zabuza’s eyes glazed over and he was trapped in a genjutsu. Asuma’s blade cleanly took off his arm.

Zabuza choked out a strained scream, but he still couldn’t move, trapped. Asuma was going for a final blow but Naruto’s fingers pressed harder and Zabuza collapsed, unconscious. 

No one moved for a while. Shikamaru had passed out from blood loss while Asuma and Naruto stood, catching their breath. 

Naruto sank to his knees before looking over to his two teammates. Naruto struggled to get back onto his feet and collapsed next to his friends. Asuma placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, stopping him from checking their pulses. 

“We need to leave.”

Naruto was shaking but he nodded, “Yes.”

Asuma formed two more shadow clones who picked up Shino and Shikamaru.

“Pack up our camp and follow them to Kakashi's ok? You’ll be safer there.”

Naruto nodded again but looked over to Zabuza, “What are you going to do?”

Asuma sighed, “I’ll finish clearing the rooms, we only have two more,” He threw a look over to Zabuza, “I’m guessing you don’t want me to kill him?”

Naruto shook his head.

Asuma scratched his head, “I’ll figure something out,” he patted Naruto on the head, “You go.”

“Wait,” Naruto grabbed Asuma’s arm, he had a deep cut on his shoulder and Naruto pressed his hand on it, allowing it to at least stop bleeding.

“Thanks, Naruto,” Asuma nodded and the blond took off, following behind Asuma's two clones. 

They made it to their campsite. Haku was still sleeping so Naruto cut the ropes and took off the chakra suppression seal while the clones packed everything up. Before they left, Naruto left a basket of herbs and a few snacks next to the unconscious boy. 

At Kakashi's, Naruto knocked, then bowed deeply when a woman opened the door. She recognized Asuma and quickly let them inside.

Kakashi came out of his room, “Ma, what’s all the noise,” his eye met Asuma’s before he looked at the two boys the clones were carrying, “follow me,” he opened a door and inside were three tatami mats, “Sasuke, Kiba, out.”   


Both boys looked up, “what?”

Kakashi’s voice was stern, “I’ll explain later. Outside,” the boys hesitated until they saw Naruto.

The clones placed Shikamaru and Shino down on the beds. Naruto got to work immediately, he could heal their external wounds but couldn’t use the more complex iryo jutsu to stop all of the internal bleeding. So he changed badges, mixed herbs, made medicines, then meditated when he ran out of chakra. Then did it all over again.

“Naruto,” Asuma entered the room hours later, it was nearly sunset by then. His voice was tired but still stern, “You need to rest too. You’ve over-exerted yourself.”

Naruto shook his head, “You’re hurt too sensei,” Naruto immediately started to wrap his shoulder and heal other cuts and bruises on Asuma’s body before handing him a small brown bottle. Asuma eyed it before downing it. Immediately the pain disappeared, replaced with a fuzzy numbness and the jounin sat down in a stool at the side of the room.

“Naruto, go to sleep, you’re tired.”

Naruto stood quietly for a second, “I have to treat them. I have to be here when they wake up.”

“And you will be. I have faith in your healing abilities, and now you just need to have faith in them,” Asuma looked down at his two sleeping students.

Naruto sat down on his bed but just continued to stare.

“You know what will really make them happy?”

Naruto looked up at Asuma.

“You looking healthy and happy. If you smile when they wake up, I’m sure they’ll be happy. And you have to have the energy to give them a good smile.”

“A smile? I never thought about it…”

“Smiling makes other people smile, which means they’re happy.”

“Oh.”

“So when they wake up, you gotta smile real big and say ‘welcome back’,” Asuma grinned.

Naruto laid down on his right side, looking at Shikamaru before rolling onto his back, “Ok.”

\---

Shikamaru woke up first, groaning immediately. He finally opened his eyes, tan ceiling. To his left, nothing. To his right, Shino. Shikamaru slowly brought his hand up to rub his face, his body was numb everywhere.

Shikamaru’s hand dropped and he paused before ramming his elbow into Shino’s arm. Shino blinked slowly, it was the first time Shikamaru had seen his eyes so clearly and it was about what he expected.

Shino looked at Shikamaru without moving his head and rolled his eyes.

Shikamaru slowly became aware of the weight settled on his leg. Shikamaru slowly lifted his body and supported himself with his hands. Shino followed after him.

At the base of their beds, Naruto had his head on Shikamaru’s leg and knees pressed against Shino’s body. The blond was wrapped in a tight ball with a blanket draped over him. 

Naruto fell asleep looking after the two injured boys and the blanket was courtesy of Asuma. When he felt slight movement, Naruto’s eyes snapped open and he was on his knees.

Naruto’s eyes widened when he saw the two sitting, fully awake and healthy. Blue eyes glossed over with unshed tears and Naruto threw his arms around Shino and Shikamaru, pulling them both into his shoulder.

The duo was shocked, Naruto accepted hugs and comfort, but he never initiated them.

Naruto leaned back, a smile curved on his lips. It was soft and filled with warmth. It looked like it belonged. Naruto had a face made for smiling, “Welcome back,” Naruto’s eyes closed and a few tears dropped down but his smile only got larger.

“Thank you,” Shino nodded, a small smile on his face.

Shikamaru looked away from the blinding light the blond emitted and blushed, rubbing his hair, “Troublesome blond,” he whispered, but a crooked smile still blossomed, “Thanks Naruto.”

Asuma stood in the doorway and chuckled, observing the interaction. He walked in slowly, crouching by Shino and Naruto, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Good to know you’re awake,” Asuma wiped a tear off Naruto’s face. The blond’s eyes widened and he quickly rubbed at his face with his hands, “You were asleep for three days.”

Asuma stood back up, “let’s get you some food, and maybe we’ll catch Kakashi’s team.”

Naruto turned, “Are they leaving?” Naruto helped both boys stand. 

“Yah, Tsunami’s letting us stay an extra day to heal up.”

Shikamaru and Shino sat down to eat at the kitchen downstairs while Asuma stood in the doorway talking to Kakashi. Naruto followed him, making small conversation with Sasuke. Shikamaru was watching the whole scene with a grimace before Kiba blocked his view.

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

Shikamaru grunted and Shino nodded in greeting, “We just woke up. So not a lot.”

“Man you should’ve seen us, when those thugs came around we-,” Kiba pulled out a chair to sit but Kakashi called him over, “Aw man, I’ll have to tell guys about it later, it was awesome,” Kiba walked away, waving.

Shikamaru looked up to catch a glimpse of Sasuke resting a hand on Naruto’s shoulder before saying something and leaving with his team.

Naruto walked back over to his team and sat down.

“So are you and Sasuke friends now too?” Shikamaru murmured, eating his grilled fish.

“No, I believe he thinks of me as an acquaintance,” Naruto’s face was composed once more.

“And what do you think of him?” 

“... I have not talked to him much,” Naruto paused, looking at his hands for a moment, “He’s a bit weird.”

Shikamaru’s eyes bulged out of his head, Naruto had never said anything remotely bad about anyone before. Shikamaru wasn’t sure if that meant Sasuke was an extraordinarily odd person or Naruto was just growing emotionally. 

Shino snickered, “What’d he do?”

“He knocked me onto the ground, on accident, and didn’t apologize. And he does weird things all the time. I don't understand him.”

Shikamaru chuckled and rubbed his shoulder, he really didn’t have anything to worry about, even if that didn’t make him like the Uchiha kid more, "what kind of weird things?"

Naruto pushed his fingers together, "He shows up at my house sometimes then runs away-" Shikamaru's mouth dried up, "and he says things that contradict his actions."

_ He did what now? _ Did Naruto find himself a stalker? Shikamaru was more than a bit concerned.

Shino fixed Shikamaru with an understanding gaze, “It is troublesome being in a team with a couple, why? Because you worry too much all the time.”

“A couple of what? Are we a couple Shikamaru?” Naruto blinked owlishly.

Shikamaru glared heatedly at Shino, “No, no, we-” Shikamaru turned to look at Naruto who had a surprising amount of confusion on his face. Shikamaru grit his teeth and smiled forcefully, “A couple of friends,” his laugh was strained.

Shino looked away from second-hand embarrassment. Naruto had no idea what Shikamaru was talking about yet he could feel the oozing _wrongness_ from those words. But Naruto didn’t say anything because his friend looked ready to pass out from shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed this arc quite drastically. I still wanted it in there because it's such an iconic transition into the chunin arc. So let me know if yall like this amount of canon divergence. Also, about the previous chapter, I usually don't like OCs having a big influence on the story but if yall liked the poker mission, I can turn that into a full arc. I leave the decision up to the comments.
> 
> And, as always, thank you for reading!


	10. Home

Asuma sensei told his genin to meet on the bridge right outside of town. It was unusual, they always met at a restaurant or at their training ground. In hindsight, Shikamaru should have recognized it for what it was, a sign to give up and go home. But he didn’t so now he was in this situation.

Asuma clapped, announcing his sudden appearance in front of Shino and Naruto.

"Hey gang, happy to see you're all on time!" He smiled brightly. He seemed extra happy today. Shikamaru got that itch under his skin, that feeling that he had messed up somehow.

While Shikamaru squirmed away from Asuma’s gaze, Naruto intertwined his fingers and straightened up, "Did something good happen today sensei?" Naruto liked it when Asuma was happy, he laughed more and told more jokes. They weren’t very good jokes but Naruto liked them anyway.

Asuma nodded, pausing for a moment of last-minute decision making. But in the end, he decided to just rip the bandage off as quickly as possible, "Yes! I signed you up for the chunin exams!" He was giving the team a thumbs up and looked very proud of himself.

Asuma-sensei confirmed that he was in fact happy, so Naruto supposed he should be happy too. But Shikamaru and Shino looked anything but.

Shikamaru shook his hands in front of his face, "That's way too much of a drag," His intuition was always right, he should have just gone back to sleep that morning. 

"I have to agree," Shino pushed his glasses up and they glinted in the light, "this is too short notice." 

Naruto was torn once more, Shikamaru and Shino seemed totally unimpressed but Asuma was looking at Naruto like he wanted the blond to say something,"... When is it?"

"Glad you asked. Tomorrow, seven at the academy," Asuma made a peace sign and flickered away.

"Damned old man," Shikamaru slouched and looked over at Naruto and Shino.

"This is quite a nuisance for us. Sensei is always causing us problems." Shino agreed, it was an unusual day indeed.

“I read that the Chunin exam was for experienced teams,” Naruto piped in.

“Exactly,” Shikamaru groaned, “We’ve been genin for like a few months. Who gets a promotion after only a few months? That makes us try-hards.”

“We are try-hards,” Shino argued and Shikamaru was almost relieved at the sense of normalcy that brought back, “Why? Because we have a large amount of field experience compared to other genin teams. We should strive for chunin as soon as possible. But sensei has left us no room for preparation. We will not know the trials nor the other competitors.”

Shikamaru was horrified, if Shino had his way, the next chunin test would be even more work.

"I… think we should go. Sensei's helping us get stronger. We should make him happy," Naruto flinched, the words felt foreign.

Shikamaru chewed his bottom lip, it was a rock and a hard place type thing. At least this would make Naruto happy, "Whatever, I'm not doing it for Asuma-sensei,” Shikamaru sighed, “But if you want to do it, I'll go."

Shino remained quiet, just looking over the brim of his glasses. But he too, eventually shrugged, "Sensei should have told us earlier… but it is a good opportunity to show how hard we've trained."

Naruto’s face was painfully warm. For a moment, he felt human. So Naruto smiled.

Shino scratched his head while looking away with a blush, "The tests most likely increase in difficulty as they go on so we will have to scope out the other teams and determine a plan of action at our earliest convenience. We must take this chance to train as a team," Shino was already speed walking away.

"Hah? This really is gonna be a pain. We should just take the day off to-" Shino already left and Naruto was following closely behind.

Shikamaru had to catch up to continue complaining anyway, so at that point, it would be more troublesome to not train.

The next day Asuma was standing by the tree outside of the academy. He grinned when he saw the group, "You guys really pulled through. Thank goodness, I bet Kakashi that more of my students would be chunins then his brats."

Shino raised his eyebrow and Shikamaru shrugged, "Suddenly, I'm feeling really tired. I'll just head-"

"No-no-no it's too late," Asuma ushered them closer to the exam site, "you're already here, might as well go through with it. Good luck gang."

"Whatever, let's just get this over with," Shikamaru glared back at the spot where their sensei was standing just a moment ago then looked back at the steep walls of the academy, “It’s weird being back here.”

“Ridiculous, it’s only been a couple of months,” Shino strolled right past Shikamaru, entering the empty hall.

“You can’t tell me it’s not even a bit nostalgic,” Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest.

“Absolutely not, unlike you, I did not sleep the entire time, I was maximizing my chances of success.”

They both turned to look at Naruto at the same time and the blond blinked blankly, “The last few years were quite uneventful,” Naruto admitted. And the first year was nothing but painful, “Shikamaru is still with me and now we have Shino and Asuma-sensei so the present is definitely better.”

“You’re just lucky Naru’s too nice,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes, bypassing Shino this time.

“No, you are correct I am nostalgic for a time I didn’t have to talk to you every day,” Shino raced past Shikamaru.

“That’s my line-”

“The door is right here,” Naruto pointed at the silver placard labeling the room number. Shikamaru and Shino had far past the correct door.

Shikamaru turned around first with a huff, “This is your fault,” and surprisingly Shino didn’t argue back, trailing behind in mild embarrassment. Shikamaru pushed open the door to find a half-full room. Everyone looked either annoyed or mad, Naruto had really been hoping for a happy atmosphere.

Shino bumped Naruto's shoulder and motioned with his head to the right. The blond grabbed Shikamaru's hand and pulled him to follow Shino. They found a pretty hidden bench in the back corner.

"Shoot," Shikamaru scooted down on the seat and covered his head, "we got here just in time I guess."

At the front of the room, Ino, Hinata, and Choji entered the room. They looked good, standing shoulder to shoulder with a quiet confidence that had previously seemed impossible for such a juxtaposed team.

"Should we go talk to them?" Naruto was never close to any of them, but they were classmates.

"That'd be way too much effort," Shikamaru relaxed further into the bench until his head fell limply onto Naruto’s lap.

"I have to agree. Sensei said Kakashi-sensei's team was enrolled too," seconds after Shino said it, Kiba strolled through the door.

"Who would've thought they'd enter all of us," Shikamaru rubbed his temple, "those sensei are insane."

A yelling match started between Sakura and Ino. All of the previous pretenses of subtle growth were gone. Sasuke looked like he was about to snap.

"The farther we stay away from those idiots the better our chance of survival is," Shikamaru affirmed and his voice reverberated against Naruto’s leg.

"That's not very nice," Naruto frowned.

"Yeah, well the amount of anger they've already stoked here is deadly," Shikamaru pointed to the growling team in the seat in front of them.

Naruto had to agree. But it still wasn't kind.

\---

Team 10 had the heaven scroll in hand and now they were just waiting for the gates to open.

“Any plans?” Shino asked his teammates. 

“Get this done as quickly as possible with as few distractions as possible. Then we can rest easy for five days,” Shikamaru smirked.

“It is three right now. If we run the whole 10 km we could make it within a couple of hours,” Naruto nodded.

“Running that long is troublesome,” Shikamaru wanted to sleep just thinking about it, “but surviving overnight is even worse.”

The gates flung open and the team sprinted off, only running for ten minutes before Shino made eye contact with Naruto.

The blond paused on the tree branch, pumping chakra out in radial waves. Naruto kept jumping but his eyes were closed, “seven o'clock, due east and five o’clock, north east”

Shino nodded and three bugs emerged from his sleeve, going in the directions Naruto stated.

“The group to the left of us has an earth scroll,” more bugs started pouring out of his sleeves and the group followed the swarm. It didn’t take long to hear the frustrated screams echoing through the branches.

“Shit,” the brown-haired male yelled as he swatted at the bugs, “this is disgusting.”

“I hate this goddamn forest,” his teammate was scratching at his skin furiously. 

Team 10 paused, watching the commotion. They were going to run out of chakra soon anyway, but to speed up the process, Shikamaru threw a kunai, butt first, knocking out the girl of the group. Naruto formed three hand signs and the two remaining shinobi froze and passed out. 

“That was effective,” Shikamaru appreciated Naruto's handy work while searching through the group’s bag, “what was that?”

“They witnessed their own deaths in the way they feared most,” Naruto squatted down next to a body, tying it up, “the brain perceives the pain that the nerves receive. If you trick the brain into thinking it feels pain, the brain will perceive it. The victim will feel that pain even if it does not exist.”

“That’s pretty scary Naruto,” Shikamaru snickered.

“Really? Sorry,” Naruto bowed once he stood.

Shino gave Naruto the earth scroll, “I didn’t know you could do that,” usually, the two let Naruto test out different genjutsu on them during spars. At this point, Shino knew his teammates’ attacks as well as he knew his own.

“Yes, I was working on it alone. I didn’t think you would be happy if I tested it on you,” Naruto confirmed. 

“Yah I’d rather keep it that way,” Shikamaru walked ahead slightly as Naruto and Shino finished clearing out the scene. No footsteps, no evidence, just three tied up bodies.

The team sprinted off once again, “It’s not complete,” Naruto overtook his teammates, guiding them to the river, “It’s easy to break. It only worked because those genin were weak.” 

Shino smirked as they paused by the river. It should lead straight to the tower, so they now had an easy compass, “That is uncharacteristically harsh of you Naruto.”

The blond bobbed his head, “You are right, my mistake. They were weakened from chakra drainage.”

Shikamaru splashed some water on his face and shook off any dirt before clapping Naruto on the back, “You don’t have to be nice every minute of the day. You can’t please everyone.”

“But I should try?” Naruto asked.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru drawled, “But think about yourself and your happiness too.”

“What makes you happy Naruto?” Shino asked as they got ready to keep running.

Naruto stopped and thought about it. He felt happy when he got this weird warm tingly feeling. Like when Tsunade hugged him or Shisui complimented him. He felt happy when his teammates were safe and when they supported him unconditionally. 

Naruto opened his mouth but Shikamaru grabbed his hand pulling him into a bush, “Someone’s here.”

Naruto reached for Shino. But it was too late, a tentacle of sand shot out and caught Shino's ankle. Shino shifted to the right, blocking the bush with his body as much as possible. The sand was quickly worming its way up Shino's body, restricting more of his movement. 

“Fast,” Shikamaru whispered in shock.

Shino glanced at his teammates, all but telling them to stay hidden. A red-headed shinobi lifted up a branch and stepped out of the thick foliage surrounding the river. Two more sand shinobi followed him into the clearing.

“Give us your scroll and we’ll consider letting you go,” the blond-haired kunoichi got right to the point, pulling her fan free from her back and pointing it at Shino like a blade. But Shino opted for silence.

Naruto grabbed Shikamaru’s shoulder, both shinobi’s becoming invisible. They moved away from the bush, deeper into the forest where they wouldn't be heard. But they wouldn't take any chances- these genin were killers, that much was obvious just from how they walked. Shikamaru communicated slowly with hand signs, explaining the plan.

“Don’t bother,” the red-head spoke to his sister without looking at her, “He will die here. Either we get the scroll from him,” his face contorted into a smile that didn't belong on his face. His siblings shifted away from him, “or we’ll search through whatever remains.”

The sand gripped Shino's waist, crushing his organs gradually. Blood rose up his throat but Shino refused to move even as it trickled past his lips. He couldn't say anything, his teammates would handle this. He could trust them. He would live. This pain was nothing.

Naruto’s eyes drifted from Shikamaru’s hand signs, locking onto Shino. His stomach knotted and tightened. Seeing that hurt- Shino only got caught because he wasn’t paying attention- Shikamaru gripped Naruto's shoulder, looking him strictly in the eye. Naruto felt some of the pressure in his gut lessen.  _ Not yet _ . 

They could've avoided this completely. Naruto wished he could've been faster, better, more focused. 

"G-Gaara," Temari placed a hand on her brother's arm, "just hold on," his glare turned onto her and her words became more strained, "one of his teammates might have it."

"Then I'll kill them too," the sand tightened more and Shino was sure it broke a rib this time. The sound was decent confirmation.

Shikamaru gripped Naruto's head, forcing him to continue looking into Shikamaru's eyes. But it was getting harder. Naruto’s ears tuned painfully, he could hear every slip of the sand as it constricted further. He didn’t need to look to know what was happening. If it had been him, Naruto’s eyes lost focus as he trekked deeper into those thoughts, if it was him he would have been healed, he would be better off than Shino, than anyone. If only it was him, only him that got hurt-

“Stop,” Shikamaru’s whisper snapped Naruto back, “focus.”

"But wouldn't it be easier if we knew where they were or what they looked like?" Kankuro tried to defend Temari but he had a certain amount of hidden resentment talking to his brother that his sister lacked.

Gaara shoved Temari's hand off and didn't turn to acknowledge either of them, "Talk," the sand wound up to Shino's neck, "or your suffering will be prolonged."

Shikamaru gave a small nod and Naruto was gone, standing just behind Temari and Kankuro within a second. Naruto placed a hand on their shoulders and their eyes glazed over, empty. Naruto stayed still even as the invisibility genjutsu faded. Gaara spotted him immediately but his sand couldn't keep up.

And before the sand had a chance, Gaara was frozen with Shikamaru’s shadow possession. Naruto grabbed Gaara’s hands, red chakra bubbling up and surrounding Naruto's body. But instead of burning Gaara, the chakra poured into his body, slowly getting absorbed. 

Naruto’s eyes widened, he immediately swiped Gaara’s feet out from under him, the red-head fell to the ground and Naruto followed him, straddling his body. 

By now the sand grabbing onto Shino had loosened enough for the boy to escape but Naruto stayed and pressed two fingers to Gaara’s head, his red chakra continuously pouring into the boy until suddenly it stopped. Shikamaru was already slowly coming out of the bush, "Naruto?"

Naruto sprung off Gaara’s body, grabbing Shino and Shikamaru’s hands, sprinting away as fast as possible. 

“What was that?” Shikamaru rubbed his wrist once Naruto let go.

The blond shook his head, “He’ll really want to kill me now.”

Shino wrapped his arms around his chest then cringed at the screaming and sound of trees falling that echoed behind them. His heart was beating. Out of all the missions they took, it really felt like that at that moment, he came closer to death than ever before. Asuma wasn't there to save them at the last minute, it was just them and Shino's heart was roaring so loudly he couldn't hear his own footsteps. Was he even walking? His legs gave out.

"-Ino? Shino?" Naruto squatted down by Shino.

"Get it together troublesome Aburame," Shikamaru was staring off into the sky but put a hand on Shino's shoulder.

Shino looked up with a glare, "Shut it."

"Tch," Shikamaru gave Shino a harsh pat on the back that had the other boy coughing roughly.

"Are you ok?" Naruto placed a glowing hand on Shino's abdomen while shooing Shikamaru away.

"I'm fine," Shino managed to squeeze in through the coughing.

"Don't lie-" Shikamaru quickly shut up when Naruto kicked his shin.

"You need medical attention," medical attention Naruto couldn't give considering the internal damage. But his hand glowed nonetheless and the bruising disappeared.

"No-" Shino got back onto his feet, "we don't have time, it's not safe here."

Naruto scanned the field they stopped in, brushing his hand across the tufts of scattered plants before stopping on one. As Naruto picked it, the leaf glowed green until Naruto passed it off the Shino, "Chew on this-" Shino took it without hesitation, "-it'll help reduce pain."

Shino nodded and started running with a slight wobbliness he never felt previously. Shino hated being the weak link, he usually left that job up to Shikamaru. He hated holding his team mates back. They didn’t stop running until they were securely inside the tower. There was a moment of silent relief. They made it. The only sound was quick puffs of air and labored breathing. The relief didn’t last too long. The room they had entered was nearly entirely empty save for a single hung scroll. Not exactly a warm congratulatory sign.

Naruto unsealed the heaven and earth scrolls through the creeping sleepiness, "What do we do?"

"Hand em' over," Shikamaru stuck his head.

"What are you gonna do with them?" Shino scowled from his place leaning against the wall.

"Open them," Shikamaru's fingers flicked at the edge of the seal keeping the scrolls closed.

"We were told not to open them," Shino didn't sound particularly concerned despite arguing. He trusted Shikamaru's intellect even if he wouldn't admit it.

"We couldn't open them until we made it onto the tower," Shikamaru didn't look up from the scrolls, pointing a thumb at the scroll on the wall, "says something about heaven and earth together. Anyway what else is there to do?" If only his fingernails weren't so short.

Naruto nodded, unwrapping the scrolls in Shikamaru's hands.

Shikamaru mumbled a quiet "thanks" under his breath.

The scrolls started smoking as soon as they were open, "a sealing array?" Shikamaru squinted through the smoke.

Naruto waved smoke out of his face, "summoning scroll," and Shikamaru threw them down immediately.

And just in time too, a shinobi, his flack jacket indicated chunin, popped from the smoke. He whistled, flipping open a pocket watch.

“Two hours, impressive,” The chunin nodded, “Needless to say, you’re the firsts ones here.”

Shikamaru plopped down on the ground, “Jeez,” they’re goal wasn’t to come first. In fact, a good second or third would have drawn less attention, “At least it’s over.”

"Yes, you have completed the second exam. Congratulations. Before you move on I must explain some things about becoming a chunin. It is quite a heavy title and so you must know what the job entails-"

Shino and Naruto slowly joined Shikamaru on the ground as the chunin spoke and it was very possible that Shikamaru was sleeping through it.

“Well, that's all, you may leave. You will be called back when the test is over. Until then, try not to talk to any of the other contestants.”

And with that, the chunin was gone as suddenly as he appeared.

“Shikamaru, wake up,” Naruto nudged, trying to keep Shino from kicking the Nara awake. 

“Is he done?”

“Yes, we were dismissed.”

Shikamaru sat up with a huff, “Great, get to sleep for the next four days.”

Shino adjusted his glasses, “What are you talking about? This is a perfect time to train. Hone our skills. We would be doing this if we were still in the forest.”

“That’s the reason we got out of there fast you freak,” Shikamaru glared. Naruto helped him stand up. The blond linked his arms with both his teammates, dragging them to their waiting room.

“Speak for yourself sloucher,” Shino snapped back. 

"You're injured dumbass, you don't get a say in this." 

They continued to easily argue over Naruto's head, both being a good amount taller than him. 

After they actually reached the room, Naruto shoved them both in, flicking them on the forehead and sitting on his bed.

Shikamaru cringed, rubbing his head and Shino sat down with a wince. Naruto was laying out his scrolls in hopes of finding some helpful medicine in there.

It was quiet until Shikamaru spoke, “What… was that back there?”

Naruto looked at him quizzically, "Please elaborate."

"In the forest," Shikamaru scratched his shoulder and looked at the ceiling, "with that sand shinobi."

“He is a monster,” Naruto answered frankly.

Both his teammate’s eyebrows shot up, Naruto would never say that about someone.

“Jinchuriki,” Naruto corrected, seeing their confused faces, “like me. I put his bijuu to sleep.”

Shikamaru scratched his head, “Wait- wait, you said too many things just now… He’s a jinchuriki?”

Naruto nodded.

“And you’re one too?” another nod, a bit more unsure this time, “I guess that explains a lot.”

Naruto was confused, frighteningly confused, “You didn’t know?”

Shino and Shikamaru shook their heads, almost equally confused.

“Were we supposed to?” Shino sat up even as his body protested.

“I thought everyone knew,” Naruto kneeled down on the ground and bowed with his head touching the ground, “I am sorry I deceived you.”

Shikamaru could do nothing but stare until the pieces slowly came together, Naruto was kneeling before them as if he committed murder, "W-what are you-" he pulled Naruto up and the blond was making a face far too similar to that night, the night Shikamaru found Naruto crying. Naruto's face was red and stuffy but his expression was so utterly blank it almost felt like in one minute, Naruto regressed four years of progress. Shikamaru's mouth was dry. Back then he had been able to say something, then why, after all these years of knowing and caring for Naruto, could he not help him? Naruto didn't look in pain but Shikamaru knew he was, Naruto was scared and hurting and that froze Shikamaru, it pained him.

Shino moved slowly, navigating the tense room with his still less than healed body to sit on the bed next to Naruto, “You didn’t deceive us, why? You are still the same person.”

“But you thought I was human,” Naruto always had a quiet voice but its emptiness pierced like a knife.

“Because you are,” Shikamaru was near pleading, "you are human."

“I’m a monster,” Naruto repeated the words that had been stuck in his head for years

Shikamaru shook his head with as much sincerity as he could muster and took Naruto's limp hands, “It doesn’t really matter either way,” Shikamaru let go and tried to compose himself, Shino was watching him with a careful eye, “You’re the nicest person or monster I’ve ever met. Doesn’t matter what you call it.”

“You did heal us and save our lives. You are a good person,” Shino put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder.

Naruto looked at his hands. It just didn't make sense. Naruto wanted to become human for Shisui, a good human. And yet sometime after Shisui died Naruto gave up without admitting it. Without Shisu, it seemed impossible.

But Naruto made friends, real friends. And Naruto tried his best every day to be better. That was what Shisui wanted for him. Maybe Naruto didn't fail, maybe he didn't need to feel guilty.

“And you feel emotions,” Shikamaru added as a tear fell down Naruto’s face.

Naruto brought his hands up, not noticing he was crying and not knowing why either. He tried to rub them away but they kept getting replaced. Shino kept his hand on Naruto’s shoulder.

He still wasn't sure, about a lot of things, least of all what it meant to be human. Did it mean being kind or helpful or friendly or just emotional? But maybe it also wasn't all that important.

“You wanna get some food?” Shikamaru stood and Naruto nodded, trying to smile because he felt really really warm. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a dense chapter, possibly too dense. Anyway, that you so much for the positive comments, they feed my starved ego and really do help motivate me to keep writing. My interest in fanfiction fluctuates and the amazing community on ao3 is probably the only reason I write weekly. And also no one's questioned me on my lackluster chapter titling so thanks guys.
> 
> A big thank you to anyone who keeps reading this beast ten chapters in, I hope you enjoyed it!


	11. Grey Skies

When team ten was called back into the Forest of Death tower, they were immediately on edge. Too many unknown factors, would there be other people? Would there be another challenge? Traps?

Then the large double doors opened. Shino, Naruto, and Shikamaru entered. Ino and Sakura were glaring heatedly while Kiba was trying to pick a fight with Sasuke. The noise level was high; it was more dangerous than they expected. And this time there was no hiding. They were in an open room. 

The scene almost mirrored what happened that day before the first exam. But there were subtle differences, a certain tenseness and tenderness. Sakura’s hair was shorter, that was an immediately obvious difference. All of them seemed to have taken a bit of a beating, bruises littering arms and calluses on worn fingers. Shikamaru didn’t understand what was with that atmosphere and he didn’t plan on finding out.

But Ino’s eyes immediately flashed, her gaze was set on Shikamaru.

“Where have you been?” Ino stomped her way to Shikamaru, linking their arms and dragging him towards the center of the arena-looking room, “I saw you like once in this whole exam and you never even said hello?”

Shikamaru threw a glance over his shoulder, pleading with his teammates for help. And Naruto wanted to it’s just he had no idea what to do in this situation. None of his shinobi training had prepared him for this. Ino, without even glancing in their direction, gave off the aura of _don’t touch_. Naruto wasn’t sure if anything short of hog tying her would stop Ino’s quest. And somehow, that didn’t seem appropriate for the situation. There was never any hope of Shino helping either, he just turned his head with a smirk.

Choji, who had been eating silently next to Hinata, waved briskly, “Hey Shikamaru,” his eyes swept over to where Naruto stood and hesitantly rose his hand once more, “Naruto.”

Naruto peeked around Shikamaru’s dragging body to wave.

“People like that annoy me,” Shino mumbled under his breath, “people who talk so casually with everyone.”

“Who?” Naruto tilted his head to the side, missing the subtlety Shino tried to keep in his voice.

“Shikamaru- all of them. If they have time to be talking like that then they have time to be training.”

“You talk to me and Shikamaru normally,” Naruto gazed blankly at the chaos their old classmates were causing. At least this time it was _just_ them in the arena.

Shino shook his head, “Completely different. I spend every day with you and Shikamaru. It is for the good of the team to foster healthy communication.”

“I see,” Naruto bobbed his head, he wasn’t sure if arguing was healthy but Shino was usually right about these things.

“They act like zoo animals,” Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest.

Naruto turned his head to the right, he wasn’t sure when Sasuke approached them, “Hinata and Choji seem very civilized to me.”

Hinata was mumbling something to the Akimichi and Choji slowly passed her chips in return. Ino was trying to rope Shikamaru into a conversation between her and Sakura that Kiba was insistent on jumping into. Shikamaru gave long side glances at emptier parts of the arena but he was, surprisingly enough, responding.

“Sakura and Kiba,” Sasuke grumbled deep in his throat, “they act so shamefully in public.”

Naruto blinked, Sasuke remained unpredictable and yet unchanging, “Have you tried communicating healthily with them?”

“Healthy what?” Sasuke turned his head to look quizzically at Naruto and Shino coughed to cover his snicker. 

“Healthy communication,” Naruto repeated, “if you want them to change you should just tell them.”

“That won’t blow over well,” Shino whispered into his collar. 

“Why not,” Naruto’s eyebrows scrunched up, Shino just told him healthy communication was crucial, “You just have to say it nicely.”

“There’s no way to say ‘ _I’m ashamed of you’_ politely,” Shino didn’t even try to hide his butting in anymore.

“Who said I wanted to be nice?” Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Shino. 

“What?” Naruto crossed his arms, absolutely rejecting the notion. “You should always try to be nice.”

“Only you do that,” Sasuke rolled his eyes, “because you’re weird.”

Shino’s glare turned deadly instantaneously, “Uchiha-”

“It was a compliment,” Sasuke turned his head with a huff, “calm down.”

“You are being nice right now,” Naruto gave a thumbs up, “you can do it.”

Sasuke whipped around to stand in front of Naruto, “I don’t need your encouragement. It’s a choice. I choose to act like I want to.”

“Then you can choose to be nice,” Naruto blinked owlishly.

“I don’t want to,” Sasuke was glaring but he couldn’t aim it at Naruto.

“I see,” Naruto pinched his bottom lip and looked at the ground for several moments, “but you want your teammates to improve right?”

Shino placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, “you’re not going to get anywhere with-”

The doors opened behind them, right behind them. Shino didn’t even have time to look at who was entering before a shoulder shoved Naruto out of the way. Naruto looked up but the black-haired male didn’t even glance at him.

“Uchiha,” the male acknowledged without a pause in his step.

Shino glared at the retreating back, “Who is he?”

Sasuke grit his teeth and his hand flew up to cover his neck, “Hyuuga Neji.”

\---

Ino had positioned herself carefully despite what it may have looked like. Choji and Hinata stood far enough away that they didn’t have to get roped into Ino’s argument but they were both angled just so Ino could easily watch them from the corner of her eye. Ino managed to maneuver Sakura into the farthest position away from her teammates without losing sight of anyone. And Shikamaru was in the middle of it all, admittedly a bit of a meat shield. 

“You should have seen us, we sent those ninja running,” Kiba laughed while ducking under Sakura’s punch.

“Aha,” Shikamaru stared at the ceiling tiles, hardly listening.

“You were knocked out most of the time,” Sakura growled, “Sasuke-kun did all the heavy lifting.”

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but the conversation moved at a lightning pace. Ino put her hands on her hips, “That goes for you too forehead. Sasuke-kun would be better off with someone more capable on his team.”

“And who would that be Ino-pig?” Sakura bristled, “you hardly even pass for a genin.”

“You want to say that again?” Ino gritted out through clenched teeth, “Do you remember all the mess-ups you’ve caused already? Or are you that dumb you forgot already?”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who couldn’t even pass an academy test! I know you cheated on that first exam even when the questions were grade-school level,” Sakura’s cheeks blazed a fiery red.

Shikamaru could sense a headache from a mile away, this didn’t look good for anyone involved. Even Kiba was whipped into silence, “Don’t you think you should actually be trying to talk to Sasuke instead of arguing.” Shikamaru raised a hand up to fight off the incoming insults, “You don’t get every day to talk to him like Sakura can.”

Ino sounded more exasperated than anything, “You can’t just _talk_ to Sasuke-kun. Anyway, this forehead wouldn’t let me even if I tried.”

“You bet,” Sakura stuck her tongue out, “you’d waste his time.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “Whatever,” his eyes trailed to Kiba, “what knocked you out?”And Kiba had the decency to look embarrassed, “Heh.”

Sakura wrapped her arms around herself as a shiver crept down her back, “This creep named Orochimaru.”

That was the last answer Shikamaru expected, “Oro-”

The opening doors weren’t loud per say, but it seemed like the temperature dropped a few degrees when they did. Ino was gone, leaving his side to stand next to Hinata the second the new genin team walked in. The three genin were familiar but remained anonymous to Shikamaru. Team ten’s ultimate plan in the exam was avoidance and while it had been working, they knew very little about the other contestants. However, it seemed that Ino cared more about protecting her team than tethering him to her conversation so Shikamaru took his chance to run back to freedom- his group. But there was _something_ sticking out, something that didn’t belong in team ten.

Of course Sasuke would be there, Shikamaru’s eyes narrowed. That _snake_ followed Naruto far more than an acquaintance should.

“Uchiha,” Shikamaru took his place by Naruto.

“Nara,” Sasuke returned coldly.

“Shikamaru,” Naruto’s bright face turned to his friend immediately, “Did you catch up with Ino?”

“Hardly, she just wanted me to mitigate her-”

“I’ll talk to you later Naruto,” Sasuke turned on his heel to walk back to his group, leaving with an uncaring wave. Shikamaru bit back a frown. Shino didn’t.

“He’s a bit odd right?” Naruto nodded to himself.

“Odd isn’t the word,” Shikamaru threw off the tension resting on his shoulders once Sasuke squarely left his peripheral vision.

“Asshole it better,” Shino shrugged and Shikamaru really had no place to argue, “at least he had some use.”

“Use?” Shikamaru questioned and Naruto frowned at the word.

“Yeah, some information,” Shino nudged his shoulder towards the new genin team, “Hyuuga Neji, TenTen, and Rock Lee.”

“Oh yeah, I heard something interesting too,” Shikamaru pointed a thumb at Sakura, “Team seven ran into Orochimaru the Sannin in the Forest of Death.”

“Sasuke was acting weird…” Naruto thought back to how Sasuke covered his neck, Sasuke just didn’t do that.

“Unlucky things always happen around us,” Shikamaru closed his eyes and gave a minuscule sigh.

“This test keeps getting more problematic,” Shino agreed.

“If they don’t cancel it now, those sensei really are insane,” Shikamaru was more ready than ever to quit.

The doors opened once again and Naruto shifted away automatically. The Sunagakure team entered followed by an Oto team.

The tension in the room skyrocketed, how was that even possible? Whereas before, with only the nine newly minted genin, the atmosphere of comradery built in shared pain, well at least for teams seven and eight, but with the new additions, the tension had quickly turned adversarial. And finally, team ten had a stake in that tension.

Even with Naruto’s weak attempts to hide, Gaara’s glare pin-pointed him quickly. Things didn’t have a chance to turn deadly.

A loud cough echoed through the now silent arena, “Line up!” the new presence, a jounin, yelled. And the teams listened, forming rows according to teams. The room filled out quickly, another team, this one also from Konoha, entered. Then all the jounin sensei followed by multiple other adults arrived, lining up as well. Anko and the Hokage came last.

“Congratulations on passing the second exam,” Anko’s voice reverberated throughout the room, “Now listen carefully as the Hokage delivers a message.”

As the Hokage explained the history behind the chunin exams, Naruto looked around cautiously. It was a bit easier with the rows to see where the tension was coming from. Undoubtedly, Sasuke was the center of most of it. Even Anko was watching him strictly.

Naruto’s eyes traveled back to the front of the room when the first jounin coughed into his fist, “I can take over from here as the chosen proctor,” he bowed to the Hokage before turning to face the lines of genin, “My name is Gekko Hayate, it is nice to meet all of you.”

Hayate patted his chest a few times before continuing, “There is something you must do before the third exam actually. A preliminary.”

Naruto reached back to take Shikamaru’s hand in consultation. The Nara sighed loudly and leaned back, whispering curses under his breath.

“Sensei,” Sakura stuck her head out from the line, eyebrows knitted in confusion, “I don’t understand. What’s the point of a preliminary?”

“Simple,” Hayate waved, “too many people have passed. And in accordance with Chunin exam rules, a preliminary will be held to reduce your numbers.”

“That’s-” Sakura whispered.

“Many people will be in attendance for the final test, we cannot waste time with unnecessary battles,” Hayate gave a short smile, “So those unfit to fight right this moment are advised to drop out.”

“That’s harsh,” Ino looked back at Sakura with hints of lingering pity.

Even if the whole thing was a pain, Shikamaru and his team had done little more than lounge for the last couple of days. It didn’t seem the other teams were so lucky. Sasuke looked the worst out of all of them, bandages with dried blood covering his leg and his hand incessantly squeezing his shoulder, as if in pain.

Shikamaru could just barely pick up on Sakura pleading with him, “Please quit.”

“I believe we have missed something,” Naruto whispered, everyone was acting strange and it didn’t feel too great to be left out of the loop on why.

Shino tipped his head back towards his teammates, “It seems a lot happened in the forest.”

“See? This is why we got out early,” Shikamaru shook his head, all the drama, it was tiring.

There was a long pause before a hand was raised.

“Excuse me,” a silver-haired genin smiled gently, “I’ll quit.”

“Yakushi Kabuto?” Hayate looked through his register, “you may leave.”

“Yes,” Kabato nodded and turned to leave. Sakura and Kiba watched him out. The tension only increased.

“I don’t like him,” Shikamaru whispered.

“Why?” Naruto didn’t quite like the fast judgment, “you haven’t talked to him yet,” and he had such a nice smile.

“A hunch,” Shikamaru squeezed Naruto’s hand, “just trust me on this.”

Naruto nodded without turning around.

“Is that all then?” Hayate glanced at the teams, “we have twenty people now which means we will have ten one on one matches. The winners will advance to the third exam. To win your opponent must die, collapse, or admit defeat. I may step in, however, if the match is obvious. I want to prevent more unnecessary death. Once a match is called you must stop all attacks.”

A screen opened up from the wall of the arena. 

“Your name, as well as your opponent's name, will appear here,” Hayate gestured at the screen, “for our first match,” he glanced up the scrambling names, “Akado Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke. Everyone else, please wait on the viewing platforms.”

There were two platforms and the division was immediate, Konoha on one side, visiting on the other. And it only made the glaring more obvious. But the angry gazes the Oto team swapped with team 7 paled in comparison to the absolute vitriolic hate Gaara had looking at Naruto.

Asuma walked up the stairs behind his team, stopping to clap Shikamaru and Shino on the back, laughing loudly, “Good job gang. Who would’ve thought you’d make such good shinobi. You boys beat some records,” Asuma smirked at Kakashi.

If the tension was thick before, now it was solidifying the air. Shikamaru groaned and Shino murmured something about senseis always causing problems. Naruto thanked Asuma but looked away quickly with a frown.

“Eh? And I was trying to be a good sensei,” Asuma complained, lighting his cigarette and leaning against a wall. 

The match below had started and Shikamaru was less than interested, leaning against the railing for a quick nap. Naruto watched out of the corner of his eye while sorting through his seals, but something very eye-catching popped up.

On Sasuke’s neck were red etchings. They looked like tattoos but they flowed and moved, continuously expanding from the center. Naruto hadn’t ever so much as heard of a seal like that. It was a curse, that much was obvious, but the type was a harder question. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared and the match was over. Before Naruto could even try to speak to Sasuke, he was whisked away by Kakashi.

And following them was not an option seeing as Shino’s match was next, fighting an Oto-nin that seemed to have two broken arms.

“Your turn already? What a pain,” Shikamaru yawned, “Be sure to drag it out as long as possible.”

Shino ignored him, “This will be quick.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and Naruto clapped his hands, “Don’t get hurt.”

Shino nodded curtly, with Asuma giving him a thumbs-up as he walked down to the arena.

And it was quick, despite Shino urging his opponent to give up. Shino’s bugs blocked the chakra pathways in the Oto-nin’s arms and they imploded seconds later. Shino walked back up, not a scratch on him, high-fiving Asuma while rolling his eyes. 

When the next fight was announced and none of team 10 were in it, Naruto sat next to Shikamaru. He kept a close enough watch to understand everyone’s abilities but his eyes strayed, looking over the arena, and the strange hand statue. Naruto wondered why it was there, and what it’s purpose was or even if it had any. How often was this room even used and- Shikamaru fell asleep again.

Naruto nudged him because ‘Shikamaru Nara’ lit up on the screen.

“Damn it,” Shikamaru stood slowly and looked at the arena, “A girl? I really am unlucky.”

Naruto stood up too, “Do you want me to cheer for you.”

“Ha? That’d be way too much of a pain.”

Naruto nodded, “I will cheer silently then.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes but smiled anyway, “Do what you want.”

“Don’t lose,” Shino _encouraged_.

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” Shikamaru waved his hand while walking down the steps.

Shikamaru walked back up shortly but he didn’t seem all that happy about winning, “They’re all so obvious.”

“That means you don’t have to try hard,” Naruto pointed out.

“That’s true… but I still have to try,” Shikamaru looked at the screen only to see that Naruto was next, “Oh…” and he was up against Kiba, “oh.” Shikamaru didn’t know whether to feel bad because Kiba was really on a new level of annoying or glad that it was an easy opponent. 

And before any of his teammates could talk, Naruto was already in the ring.

“Come on Akamaru,” Kiba shouted, “This is our chance to shine.”

Naruto nodded, “Good luck.”

Kiba looked over to Naruto and rubbed his head sheepishly, “Yah.. sorry about this Naruto.”

Naruto didn’t quite understand why Kiba was apologizing but decided to keep quiet. 

The proctor coughed, painfully jerking his body, but started the match. Naruto stood, waiting and Kiba smirked, “I’ll try not to be too rough.”

Kakashi glanced at Asuma and went back to reading his book. Kiba attacked first, launching at the blond for a taijutsu match. 

Asuma raised an eyebrow and leaned on the railing, speed was Naruto’s M.O. The kid could’ve ended it by now with a decent genjutsu and a senbon. But he didn’t, “I thought Naruto didn’t like taijutsu,” Asuma mumbled.

Naruto was faster than Kiba and easily dodged attacks . But he didn’t strike back. He kept his palms open, and to that extent, his style almost looked Hyuga-ish, but that was where the comparison ended. Naruto simply redirected Kiba’s punches.

And you could tell it was getting to the boy after a particularly heavy punch missed and Kiba went stumbling into the floor.

Shino observed carefully, “He’s taking his time.”

“You worry too much,” Shikamaru smirked when Kiba’s frustration boiled over and he threw a smoke bomb, “He just doesn’t want to show off.”

“Hm?” Shino frowned, the thickly colored smoke was nearly impossible to see through. It didn’t make for a great spectacle of a fight.

But once the smoke cleared, Naruto had both of Kiba’s hands behind his back and a knee between his shoulder blades. Kiba’s eyes were glazed over and his face was contorted in anger.

“I give up,” Kiba growled through gritted teeth. Kakashi looked up in actual disbelief.

“Then this match is over, the winner is Naruto.”

Naruto stood up and Kiba’s eyes widened in shock, then turning to disbelief. Kiba didn’t stand for a few more seconds, so the medics came in to take him away. Naruto waved to his team before following the medics into the back room.

Asuma sighed, “He really is _too_ nice.”

“Yeah,” Shikamaru snickered, “But he’s pretty scary too.”

Shino nodded, “I wonder what Kiba saw.”

Naruto bowed once the medics set Kiba down, “Sorry.”

Kiba sighed and looked at the ceiling, “He’s not actually hurt is he?”

“No, it was a genjutsu,” as if to prove Naruto’s point, Akamaru came sprinting in seconds later.

Seeing Akamaru running around finally erased the images of him bloody and beaten with a kunai to the neck.

“Was it too much?”

Kiba scratched his cheek, “Well yeah… but I get it. You won the match.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Naruto sat next to Kiba while medics moved around to other patients. Kiba wasn’t particularly hurt, cracked ribs and a fractured knuckle, only unable to move from exhaustion.

But Naruto healed him because it was his fault Kiba was hurt.

\---

Naruto was walking home, but no matter how far he walked, Gaara continued to not so subtly stalk him. Naruto turned around because his apartment was only a block away and Gaara was relentless. He walked over to the tree the red-head was casually leaning on. 

“Why are you following me?”

“When you enter your house I will have your blood.”

Naruto blinked, maybe that shouldn’t have been surprising with how much Gaara despised him, but still, hearing it wasn’t exactly normal. He didn’t want to give up his blood, but what other options did Naruto have? He needed food and a bed either way. So Naruto sprinted up the stairs and locked the door before leaning his entire body on the door. 

Soon after, fulfilling his promise, Gaara was aggressively rattling the doorknob but Naruto stayed put. Then it stopped. 

Little bits of sand slipped through the crack of the door. Then more, then a lot more before a whole Gaara was standing in front of Naruto.

“Mother wants blood,” Gaara whispered. But before he could do anything, Naruto took out a senbon and stabbed his own thumb with it, then dragged it down his hand, little blood drops flooded out of the wound.

Gaara just looked on with an unreadable expression. Naruto slapped his bleeding hand onto Gaara’s hand, “Here.”

“I need more.”

“That's too greedy,” Naruto didn’t want to give more, but Gaara did say he wanted it. It brought him back to his single most infinite dilemma: people didn’t always want the same thing. The blond did consider it for a minute, but Shikamaru did say he should think about himself more, “No.”

Gaara didn’t bother to say anything else. Instead, his sand gathered on Naruto’s hardwood floor and launched, determined to kill Naruto. The blond’s body gained a red tint, wrapped in a thin coat of Kyuubi chakra. And the second the sand touched Naruto’s body, it stopped. Gaara tried more sand, but it all just stopped. As soon as Gaara stopped forcing it, the sand fell away Gaara could use it again. But it _still_ froze when it came into contact with Naruto.

But Gaara didn’t stop trying because it wasn’t like Naruto was retaliating.

Naruto waited patiently for the red-head to stop. But the pattern just continued, Gaara attacked, failed, and tried again. And his expression was only worsening.

“I,” Naruto frowned down at the sand trying to crush his ribs, “I don’t believe it is working. Sorry.”

And Gaara didn’t really know what to do so he just stood very still. He could just leave, but he didn’t even manage to kill the tiny little blond boy in front of him. 

Naruto wasn’t too sure what to do either but it seemed like Gaara stopped trying to kill him so Naruto guessed that meant he didn’t have a reason to kick Gaara out anymore.

“Sit down,” Naruto said as he went to boil water. Might as well drink some tea while he had company. Asuma gave him a nice set of teacups but Naruto wasn’t sure why to use them when no one else saw them.

Gaara absentmindedly followed Naruto, pulling on a chair to sit like he was told. Because Naruto was stronger than him. Because there was no point to any of it, fighting, even living, if he was not able to squash the strength standing in his way. 

“You can’t sit there,” Naruto pointed to the plain brown chair on the other side of the table.

“Why?” Gaara grumbled at the pink and yellow butterfly chair. He didn’t even want to sit there. It was ugly anyway. It just looked comfier.

“That chair is for good people.”

Naruto gave a teacup to Gaara and sat himself down on the floor. He still wasn’t too sure what to do, but he had a monster in front of him and he felt a certain obligation to help him out, a monster kinship. So Naruto thought for a minute and asked, “What makes you happy?”

“Happy…” Gaara looked like he was deliberating and Naruto waited patiently for him to say something else. 

But after the silence dragged on Naruto moved on, “Why do you kill people?”

“It is my purpose in life,” the answer was near robotic, “To be stronger than everyone. I will kill them before they kill me.”

“That’s too lonely,” Naruto shook his head, “I want to be stronger too,” he pressed a finger to his lips voice dipping to a whisper, “If I was stronger my friend wouldn’t have died. And I can help Shikamaru and Shino and my other friends.

“To help others… Is that what makes you stronger than me?”

“That is plausible.”

“How many people do I need to help.”

“Well first you have to be nice to everyone, then you can make friends, and then you help those friends,” Naruto tried to recall how he became human, “then you will be a good person.

“And being a good person makes you stronger?”

Naruto paused to think. All the good people he knew were strong, Shisui, Itachi, Jiji, Tsunade, and everyone else. It made logical sense that they would correlate. So Naruto nodded again, “Yes.”

Gaara was quiet again and Naruto studied him, “Do you want to sit in that chair,” the blond pointed at the furniture monstrosity.

Gaara nodded. So Naruto stood up, “Then I will help you.”

“To become human...” Naruto mumbled around his teacup, “Human decency, you need to treat people decently and then they treat you decently too. _Sometimes_ ,” Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together, it was harder to explain than he thought it would be. So he grabbed the teacups and walked to the kitchen, Gaara trailing behind him, “You have to say things like _good morning_ and _how are you_ and _I hope you feel better soon_.” 

Naruto continued while washing the china, “But to be decent you need to be nice and care about others. Ah- you need to care about other people’s happiness and make them happy, but you should be happy too and-”

Gaara stared blankly at the wall in front of him. 

“Are you listening?”

“Yes,” Gaara nodded.

“Well,” Naruto sighed, “It did take a while. You need practice,” Naruto glanced at his clock, it was well past eight, “We can continue tomorrow.” 

Gaara agreed, “I will wait here,” he said as he sat back down in Naruto’s plain chair.

“You need sleep,”

“I cannot sleep. The beast will take over.”

“But I put it to sleep,” Naruto was the teacher this time and he was putting his foot down. Well as much as one could speaking to someone much taller than them, “you need to sleep.”

Gaara stilled and nodded uneasily. 

So Naruto conceded, “I will let you stay the night if you sleep. If your monster wakes up I will put it to sleep again.”

Gaara followed Naruto into the small bedroom, “You can have the bed,” Naruto got out an extra blanket he kept for the winter in the wardrobe and laid it on the ground. Gaara was about to climb into the bed but Naruto stopped him looking at the bloody and ripped shirt Gaara was wearing.

He only had one thing that would not be instrumentally too small for Gaara. It was a change of clothes Shisui forgot at Naruto’s apartment once. It was very Uchiha looking, what with its large oval collar. Gaara either didn’t realize or didn’t care because he changed without complaining.

The next morning Naruto prepared more tea before explaining how training was going to go. Today, they would venture out into the real world, say hello to people and help them pick things up that they dropped. Naruto decided to start Gaara off small. 

But in the middle of their morning tea, there was a knock at the door. Naruto went to open the door, “Shikamaru?”

The Nara smiled casually, “Hey, you holding up ok?”

Naruto nodded and opened the door wider for Shikamaru to come inside. 

“Wanna relax today? Shino and As-” Shikamaru froze as soon as he saw the ruthless red-headed murderer sitting in Naruto’s kitchen sipping tea in a ridiculously large Uchiha shirt.

“Naruto,” Shikamaru shouted in a panicked whisper, “what is he doing here?”

The blond blinked owlishly, “Training.”

Naruto turned to face Gaara, “This will be good for practice.”

Gaara nodded, standing to look at Shikamaru, “Hello, how are you?”

Shikamaru felt like his brain just melted and he looked back at Naruto who had the face of a small child showing their parents a finger painting. There was so much naive pride in that one look, it was almost blinding.

“Naruto, this is really, _really_ , not a good idea,” Shikamaru whispered again as Naruto steered him into the kitchen. Shikamaru sat on the butterfly chair opposite of Gaara with an uneasy smile.

“Why does he get to sit on the chair?” Gaara’s apathetic voice rang out.

“Because Shikamaru is a good person,” Naruto handed Shikamaru a cup of tea, “What will Asuma-sensei and Shino be doing?”

None of it made sense and at this point, Shikamaru was just acting on instinct, “Meeting up for lunch. To celebrate all of us passing.”

Naruto looked at Gaara and nodded, “This is good, people drop things in restaurants all the time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My workload has been increasing recently so these updates will probably become more sporadic. I'll still try to update at least once every other week. Also, this story will be broken into two parts, pre and post time skip. The time skip is less about powering up though, it will mostly happen so that the romance elements of the story can progress more without the age complications. So once this part of the story is done there will be a hiatus for some time just so I can write out the majority of the chapters before I start uploading them.
> 
> But anyway, thank you so much for reading,


	12. Flume

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this one, especially after the amazing encouragement from my last chapter, really thank you all so much!
> 
> Anyway, I just wanted to mention this chapter and the next chapter aren't in chronological order they just focus on two different topics. This chapter will be about Shikamaru and Naruto, so prepare yourselves.

Shikamaru was observing Gaara but it didn’t seem like the boy was secretly planning to murder Naruto so all Shikamaru could do was sigh and groan about troublesome blonds. 

Shikamaru really couldn’t see how this would turn out anything but horribly wrong, but he had to admit it was also really cute seeing Naruto try this hard. Shino and Asuma were very surprised but there wasn’t a lot they could say seeing Naruto’s hopeful face. They were seated at the same table as always, a small four-person booth. Asuma and Shino always sat on one side while Shikamaru and Naruto were on the other. But today Gaara immediately swept into the seat next to Naruto, Shikamaru’s spot.

He probably could have squeezed in next to Gaara or Shino and Shikamaru wasn’t entirely sure which choice would be worse. It was going to be a long day, probably a long month. Shikamaru dragged a chair over from another table and plopped himself down in it.

Naruto was sharing a menu with Gaara, painting at different foods, “This is what we usually get, what do you want?”

“Anything is fine,” Gaara answered.

“Do you like barbeque?”

“Probably.”

Naruto blinked a couple of times before nodding at Asuma who called over the waitress. Their meal was in front of them in seconds. 

Naruto placed a few pieces of meat on the grill and waited, glancing at Gaara’s chopsticks every once in a while. The chopsticks had yet to be moved since Naruto placed them in front of Gaara.

Naruto frowned in realization, “have you ever had barbeque?” He put a few pieces of meat on Gaara’s plate.

“No,” Gaara finally picked up his chopsticks, “I don’t eat at restaurants.”

“What about with your family?” Naruto tilted his head.

“No.”

“Do you cook?”

“No.”

Naruto was absolutely lost.

Shikamaru propped his head upon his hand, watching Naruto’s fussing, “What did you eat in Suna?”

“Bread.”

Naruto looked from the grill to Gaara, “Ok,” he nodded, “You put the meat on the grill then you flip it over then you eat it,” Naruto spoke while cooking another piece of meat.

Gaara watched intently, nodding along but didn’t move an inch to act. So Naruto kept stacking up meat on Gaara’s plate, watching with shining eyes when Gaara obediently ate every piece.

“So,” Asuma scratched his neck when a silence unbefitting their group slipped over them, “how did the two of you become friends?”

Gaara glanced up at Asuma but quickly turned back to his food. So Naruto answered, “we’re both,” Naruto paused before deciding on the word “jinchuuriki.”

“Oh,” Asuma nodded before the chopsticks fell from his hand, “Eh? Ah- Shikamaru- Shino- this is- uh-”

“Relax,” Shikamaru mumbled around a piece of meat, “we already know.”

“Since when?”

“Since a while ago,” Shino shrugged, “but why do you always have to choose someone so,” Shino pointed his chopsticks at Gaara, “so insane?”

“That’s rude,” Naruto frowned, “he’s still training. Gaara needs good influences.”

Shikamaru snickered, “You know how to be a jerk in every situation.”

“Are you surprised?” Shino pushed his glasses up, “he did try to kill me.”

Asuma looked between the occupants of the table and decided he would continue eating quietly for the moment.

“Ah,” Naruto clapped his hands together before nudging Gaara lightly. The red-head nodded, scooching out of the booth to stand.

Gaara bowed his head, muttered a quick “Sorry," and sat back down again.

Naruto clapped quietly and Shino sighed resignedly.

Shikamaru smirked, “See? So play nice.”

“Really?” Shino snatched the piece of meat Shikamaru was reaching for, “You're really going to defend this decision?”

Naruto patted Gaara’s shoulder in consolation and Shikamaru shrugged, “Are you surprised?”

“I must admit I should not be,” Shino looked away, “your devotion is disgusting.”

Asuma smiled across the table to Gaara, “Excuse them, they’ll argue in any situation.”

Gaara looked over at Shikamaru, “Are they nice people?”

Naruto nodded quickly but then paused to watch his arguing teammates. After a moment of intense deliberation, he whispered, “Not always.”

Asuma reached over the table to pat Naruto’s hand, “They’re not kind to each other but don’t judge ‘em too harshly, they’re good kids.”

When they got out of the steamy restaurant Naruto pointed to a bag of apples that had slipped from a lady’s basket, pulling Gaara with him to pick them up. Shikamaru watched them from the entrance of the barbeque house. Asuma had left first, needing to go up to the Hokage’s tower for something. 

Shino stopped next to him, eyes also trained on Naruto’s disappearing back, “If you’re so worried, tail them.”

“Not worried,” Shikamaru murmured distantly.

Shino sighed and Shikamaru quickly glanced at the genin by his side, “What?”

“Are you still denying your obvious infatuation?”

Shikamaru looked away quickly, “No.”

“Hm?” Shino didn’t bother hiding the proud smirk.

“I’m not denying it,” Shikamaru mumbled.

“That’s a start,” Shino nodded, “now just tell him that.”

“What?” Shikamaru’s head snapped to Shino, “no way.”

“So you’re just never going to tell him?”

“No… I don’t know.”

“I see no reason not to,” Shino sighed exhaustively, “even if he doesn’t realize it, he loves you too, somehow.”

Shikamaru ignored the jab, muttering, “If, _if_ , he feels anything, he definitely doesn’t realize it.”

“That’s just because he doesn’t know what romance is.”

“And that’s the problem,” Shikamaru glared, “Do you even know what romance is?”

Shino shrugged, “I see nothing wrong, explain it to him.”

Shikamaru was horrified, “Never.”

Shino rolled his eyes, starting to walk towards where Naruto stood, pointing out pieces of trash on the ground, “Fine I’ll tell him.”

“You’re just gonna rip his innocence away like that?” Shikamaru quickly rushed after him.

Shino’s eyebrows scrunched up, partially hidden by the sunglasses, “You saw him in the Forest of Death too right?”

Shikamaru grabbed Shino’s shoulder, halting his march forward, “I know ok, I know Naruto cares a lot about all his friends. If you or I or anyone just explains it to Naruto then I tell him, he’ll just go along with it because he wants me to be happy.”

“And you will then be dating,” Shino confirmed, “what is the problem?”

“You really don’t know a thing about romance,” Shikamaru drew his hand back and rubbed his palm against his pants, “It’d be out of obligation, not his own feelings.”

Shino dusted off his shoulder as well, looking back at Shikamaru, “It seems to me you are underestimating his feelings toward you, you _specifically_ … but I won't tell him.”

Shikamaru let out a breath of relief, scratching his neck, “Thanks.”

“Stop that,” Shino glowered, “it’s disgusting. Anyway, you realize Naruto will not notice anything on his own, correct?”

“He might…”

“Not with how slow you're moving.”

“Any suggestions then?” Shikamaru snapped back sarcastically.

“Woo him.”

“W-” Shikamaru choked.

“Take him on dates and _woo_ him.”

“Shut up already,” Shikamaru covered his ears, “I don’t want to get advice from _you_.”

“I’ll stop if you ask him out,” Shino drawled.

“Fine,” Shikamaru dropped his head, intertwining his fingers into his tightly pulled hair, “I’ll do it so stop.”

Shino’s smirk was smothered in his oversized collar.

“Oh,” Shikamaru lifted his head, “about following him-”

“I left a bug on him.”

“Good.”

Naruto, in the meantime, walked Gaara back to the front of his apartment, “You have to go back to your hotel today,” Gaara looked ready to protest but Naruto continued, “Your family will be worried and it is not nice to worry your family. Be nice to them.”

Naruto put his hands on Gaara’s shoulders and let his chakra flow into Gaara’s body and surely enough, the bijuu was still asleep. 

“Report to me your progress. I will be home from five to six in the morning and seven to ten,” Naruto gave a sturdy nod and walked back into his apartment, ready to sleep well in his comfy warm bed.

The next day Asuma dismissed group training, "you need to focus on your personal skills and get a strategy for how you're going to beat your opponent."

Asuma ended his speech, waiting for the genin to go their own way but they stayed looking at each other with silent conversations.

The jounin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I'll spend a week with each of you. Other than that, you can train on your own or I can find you someone." 

"What about team meetings?" Naruto finally spoke.

"They're canceled like our training."

"Sensei, this is illogical. Why? Because we may face off each other in the final match."

"It'd be a pain if we couldn't plan together. You're the one who bet on us becoming chunin," Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Asuma chuckled, "fine, you brats. We meet on Wednesday's, usual place, usual time."

Naruto gave a conservative wave, quietly muttering something about planning under his breath before disappearing. Shikamaru’s eyes squinted in the direction Naruto went and left with a half-hearted flick of his wrist.

But Shino stayed perfectly still.

“So you wanna be first,” Asuma smiled.

“Yes.”

Asuma looked up at the clouds with a hand under his chin, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you have always taken training very seriously. You and Naruto both,” he looked back down at Shino, “but are you sure you’re ok? I heard you got injured.”

Shino’s hand tightened into a fist.

And Asuma gave his shoulder a small pat, “Be honest, are you ok?”

“Perfectly fine.”

“It’s ok not to be, you know. It’s ok to feel bad.”

“My injury is healed.”

“I’m not talking about just physically.”

Shino stayed quiet.

“Is it about that Gaara kid? I know we haven’t really gotten to talk about what happened in that second exam, but I am your teacher and I’m here to listen if you want to talk about it.”

But Shino remained firmly quiet.

“You know, I’m really glad you and Naruto and Shikamaru are ok after that exam, especially if that Suna genin did try to kill you. But when Gaara was with Naruto, he looked a lot like Naruto, right? I can only imagine how bad he was treated as a jinchuuriki. You probably can’t forgive him but don’t hate him, if only for Naruto’s sake-”

“I don’t hate him,” Shino pushed the glasses on his face up but his eyes remained trained on the ground, “I failed, why? Because I was the one who got caught. If I had died there, my team would not have passed the exam. I almost brought the team down.”

“It takes a lot of effort to bring team ten down,” Asuma smiled softly, “But it all worked out right? That’s because you protected your teammates and your teammates protected you. That’s why we form teams, no one can handle the world on their own.”

“I was useless,” Shino whispered.

“I doubt that,” Asuma shook his head, “And anyway, the second part of the test was trying to show you being a ninja isn’t all about being physically strong. If you are unsure in your own skill or the ability of your team, you are set up for failure. The only way to grow is to have confidence in yourself.”

Shino stared at the quivering grass through shaded lenses.

“But we can still do some training if you’re up to it,” Asuma lit up a cigarette.

Shino nodded silently

\---

Shikamaru only got through a knock and a half before the door opened.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto's eyes peered from around the door, widening with shock.

"Not who you were expecting?" Shikamaru stuck his head in, smiling at the perpetually clean apartment.

Naruto shook his head, "It's been three days and Gaara hasn't come back."

"Hm?" Shikamaru stepped in once the door was swung wide open, carrying in a small black bag with him.

"I may have been too excited," Naruto chewed his lip, "it could have scared him off."

Shikamaru snickered lightly, "Somehow, I don't think that's it."

"Why?" Naruto's mouth shaped into a confused frown.

"I don't think I've ever seen you too excited."

"I was excited when I found that book about the cultural importance of fish."

Shikamaru nodded slowly, "I think the clerk thought you were very… focused."

"I see," Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I will work on that."

"Why?"

Naruto tilted his head, "to better express myself?'

"Your fine the way you are now," Shikamaru waved his hand casually.

"Oh," Naruto's eyes fell to the floor and his ears tipped with pink. A withdrawn smile on his face.

Shikamaru looked at the soft blond tufts of hair, his hand raising to touch a lock before falling away quickly, hitting against the black bag, "Ah-" Shikamaru stuck his hand out pushing the bad right in front of Naruto's face, "shogi- um I thought we could play shogi."

Naruto lifted his head, "You want to play with me?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru quickly looked away from those shining eyes, "well um, sensei is busy training Shino so- and, yeah, I wanted to play with you."

Naruto gave a quick but firm nod, "I want to too!"

"Do you know how to play?" Shikamaru set the bag down on the kitchen table, taking out the board and the pieces.

"A bit," Naruto scrambled around him, moving an ornate flowering plant to the ground, "I read a manual after watching you and Asuma-sensei play."

"Thought that was a direct sun plant," Shikamaru glanced at the paint blob decorating the bark of the bush.

"Should be," Naruto's hand glowed a soft blue around the pot, "but it keeps burning," Naruto placed the plant on a shadowed countertop before returning to watch Shikamaru smoothly set the shogi board.

"At least you can keep healing it."

"I suppose so," Naruto took a seat in his old wooden chair, "but it must hurt."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "It's a plant."

"That's getting burned."

Shikamaru raised his hands up with a sigh but a smile twinged at his lips, "Whatever you say."

Naruto went first, moving his piece the way he remembered Shikamaru doing.

"What's your plan?" Shikamaru quickly placed his game piece.

Naruto tore his hard gaze away from the board, "huh?"

"With Gaara," Shikamaru moved the second Naruto's piece was down, "what are you going to do when he comes over next?"

"I'll teach him more."

"Teach him what?"

Naruto pursed his lips as his hand hovered over one square before shifting to another, "manners, most likely."

"Hm?"

"It's," Naruto paused, tracing the board with his finger, already stuck on what to play next, "it's harder than I had originally thought."

Shikamaru smiled slightly, "Yeah, I can imagine. I'd probably try to convince you not to get involved if I thought I could."

"Is it not going to work? With Gaara?" Naruto's voice was hushed.

Shikamaru shrugged, "if anyone could do it, it would be you," Shikamaru paused for the first time in that game, "but you're not a doctor, so just- just don't blame yourself for anything."

"Gaara’s-"

"Please."

"I won't," Naruto bunched up the cloth of his shorts in his hands.

\---

Shikamaru stumbled down the flimsy stairs to Naruto's apartment. Standing on the ground, a small sigh escaped his lips. But when he looked up at the sky a smile cracked through.

"So it went well?"

Shikamaru jerked forward, gripping the shirt covering his chest, "Jeez," he turned around to glare at Shino who leaned against the brick exterior of the complex.

"What are you doing here? And how long were you just standing there?"

"Since three."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "thirty minutes. You've been leaning against this wall for thirty minutes."

Shino shrugged, "I usually come here on Wednesdays. Naruto has been helping me grow out a garden. We must cultivate a spot to attract more insects-"

"Ok nevermind I don't care," Shikamaru's shoulders slumped forward and he intended to continue his walk away from the apartment.

"A weak response," Shino murmured to himself, "so it didn't go well?"

"It went fine," Shikamaru sent a glare over his shoulder, "just… nothing really happened."

"As expected," Shino nodded, "why? Because this hardly counts as a date."

Shikamaru spun around, jaw dropped.

"I'm sure you come to his house often enough," Shino pushed the glasses up on his nose, inspecting Shikamaru closely, "you look the same and do the same things as before."

"We've never played shogi together before," Shikamaru argued weekly.

"Ah," Shino looked away shamefully, "you don't deserve Naruto-kun."

"Wha-," Shikamaru tried to stop the Aburame from walking up the stairs, "wait, what?"

"Your effort is lacking," Shino continued his journey up the staircase.

"Tch," Shikamaru scratched his head, "I don't want to hear that from you freak," he turned on his heel, walking away briskly.

Naruto opened the door immediately this time, eyes wider than before.

"I'm very sorry, I had completely forgotten about our meeting," Naruto bowed his head, rambling on his apology.

Shino glanced back at Shikamaru's retreating frame, Naruto hated being late and he always stuck with the first plan. He had even cancelled on Shino when prior plans came up. _Shikamaru really is an idiot_.

Shino turned back to Naruto with a small smile behind his collar, "it's fine, I got held up. I just got here."

"Really?" Naruto's shoulders dropped, "thank goodness."

\---

Gaara had finally come back the fourth day.

"Today, Temari said she was really happy," Gaara explained, sitting in that plane chair.

"This is good," Naruto nodded, "the goal is to make people happy. The next step is being able to hold a normal conversation. Talking to your special people makes them happy."

The only problem was that Naruto wasn't sure how to teach that. Especially when he was still learning.

But Naruto had read a book or two on the art of persuasion though, so it was a start, "Keep the conversation going by asking questions or talking about yourself. But not too much. Compliments are good too, best used sparingly."

Gaara was nodding the whole time, his eyes on that hideous butterfly chair.

"Ok, practice on me."

Gaara stood and placed his cup down, "hello, how are you?"

"Good."

Garra didn't say anything. So Naruto tried to fill in, "What did you do today?"

"I woke up and went to the bathroom. Then I talked to Temari. We ate breakfast then I came here."

Naruto nodded unsurely, that seemed wrong but Naruto was the one who asked so by all means Gaara did answer the question, "Try to simplify it."

"I woke up."

Naruto tapped his chin, “Not exactly what I was thinking."

“I simplified it.”

"That is true… Now you try continuing the conversation," Naruto pushed.

"Your hair smells nice."

"A bit odd," Naruto shook his head, "try a variation of that: ‘your hair looks nice’.”

“Your hair looks nice.”

“Thank you, I cut it recently.”

Gaara stayed silent again and Naruto motioned for him to say something.

“I did not cut my hair recently.”

This just wasn’t working and Naruto really couldn’t figure out why. They were having a conversation, but it sounded like two machines reciting code at each other. Malfunctioning machines. 

What Gaara really needed was someone to practice on, someone who wasn’t Naruto. But Naruto wasn’t sure if anyone he knew would be not only helpful but also willing. Shikamaru wouldn’t be willing, Shino wouldn’t be helpful, and Sasuke wouldn’t be either. 

Maybe Naruto just had to think older. But Asuma and the Hokage were both busy. Naruto stood up, he was stumped.

“I guess that will have to do,” Naruto led Gaara outside, “time to do some training,” he explained as they joined the crowded streets of Konoha, “I will look over your practice.”

Naruto and Gaara stopped to greet people on the street and help along a struggling shopper but the length and depth of those conversationa were limited. It just wasn’t good enough.

Still, Naruto was _almost_ pleased by the time they reached the other side of town, Gaara required less prompting than before to do _anything_. But what really solidified the experience was spotting Jiraiya, standing over the onsen with a notepad. Jiraiya was doubtfully a willing subject and Naruto wasn’t sure if he would be able to convince him but it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Naruto grabbed Gaara’s hand and dragged him to a spot under Jiraiya’s peeping tree, “Jiraiya-sensei.”

“Huh?” Jiraiya sputtered, flailing on the branch, “I wasn-” he was in the middle of wiping the blood off his upper lip when he saw Naruto, “Oh, it’s just you,” Jiraiya let out a brief sigh of relief.

Naruto waved and Jiraiya jumped down, suddenly cautious again, “Tsunade isn’t with you is she?”

“No.”

“And you won’t say anything?”

Naruto nodded obediently and Jiraiya grinned, “Whada yah need?” Jiraiya finally looked at the boy who came with Naruto. He recognized him immediately, Gaara of the sand, the jinchuriki of his village. But Jiraiya asked anyway, “Who’s he?”

“Sensei, this is Gaara,” Naruto introduced, “I’m training him to be nice,” Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and sent a very concerned look to his nephew. Naruto more so didn’t understand the look than ignore it, “Gaara, this is Jiraiya-sensei. He’s a sanin so he’s a really good ninja and also a pervert.”

“Ah-” Jiraiya waved his hands in an x, “Naruto- that’s a bit, you know- um.”

“Sorry,” Naruto bowed his head briskly, “He’s a super pervert.”

“No- who even taught you that word?” 

“You did sensei.”

Jiraiya opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, settling on putting a firm hand on the blond’s shoulder and leaning down slightly, “That’s just not exactly how you introduce someone.”

“I see,” Naruto turned to Gaara, “we both have a lot to learn, so let's do our best.”

“If you have more to learn he must indeed be strong,” Gaara agreed.

“Woah woah woah,” Jiraiya took a step back, “I’m not sure if I like where this conversation is going.”

It looked like this would be something Naruto indeed had to work for, “I would really appreciate if you help me teach him,” Naruto ducked his head down, “he’s a jinchuuriki too but I know he’s not a monster, so-”

Jiraiya watched him with a small, sober smile, “Listen, kid, I’d really like to help you out. I just don’t know if I can. I think I’m the wrong guy for this.”

Naruto was losing him and fast. Only one technique remained, the secret convincing method Tsunade gave him. Acting cute.

It was something he decided to avoid using, Tsunade made it sound like a method of getting others to go against their own wants, but this was important, this was for Gaara. Naruto bit his bottom lip and looked up through his eyelashes at Jiraiya, just the way Tsunade taught him, “Please? Help me?”

Jiraiya’s eyes bulged out and his whole body went stiff. For a moment, Jiraya looked more scared than anything so the blond bat his eyelashes a few more times. Jiraiya brought up his shaking hand slowly before landing it on Naruto’s head. 

“O-ok,” Jiraiya nodded with his face turned away, “Just- stop doing that already.”

Naruto nodded, face going back to perfect neutrality. Naruto tried to step back but Gaara wasn’t letting go of his hand. Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly before squatting down a bit. Gaara was a good bit taller than Naruto so it wasn’t nearly to the degree Jiraiya had to kneel to be level with Naruto.

“Name’s Jiraiya, what’s yours?” Jiraiya stuck out his hand.

Gaara stared at the presented hand, “He told you my name and I know yours.”

Jiraiya dropped his hand and sighed and briefly glanced at Naruto. The blond was staring back with the hawk-eyed firmness of a parent. 

Jiraiya only had a moment to consider how awfully troublesome this all was before eyes were piercing into his skull, “It’s just a polite thing to do. So I’ll try again. My name is Jiraiya. What’s your name?”

“Gaara.”  
Jiraiya grinned, sticking his hand out. Gaara hesitantly let go of Naruto’s hand to shake Jiraiya’s. When his hand dropped, it was back to clamping around Naruto.

Jiraiya stood back up, rolling back to look up at the position of the sun, “So what do you want to do?”

Gaara looked at Naruto quietly. The blond tilted his head, “He asked you, so you should answer.”

“Is that also polite?” Gaara looked back at the toad sage.

“With some personal discretion, yes,” Jiraiya agreed.

“Then,” Gaara glanced over the prowling village, “I want more tea.”

“Well, Naruto makes the best tea I’ve ever had,” Jiraiya grinned down at his nephew, “You don’t mind so much company over do you?”

Naruto shook his head, “Although, I don’t have enough chairs.”

“Then we’ll make a quick stop at the store,” Jiraiya was already walking off the bridge.

Naruto bowed his head quickly to Gaara, “We will have tea soon. Do you like shopping for chairs?”

“Probably,” Gaara followed behind Jiraiya shortly.

“Ah,” Naruto nodded contently, “that’s good.”

“I gotta admit,” Jiraiya called from in front of them, “I’m surprised you can still make friends. With how protective that team is.”

Naruto blinked a few times, “They are?”

“Quite,” Gaara mumbled.

“I can only imagine how much pain Shikamaru is in now,” Jiraiya sighed dramatically.

Naruto’s whole body jolted forward, “he’s in pain?”

Jiraiya briskly waved it off, “No no, just kidding… probably.”

“I don’t understand,” Naruto frowned.

“He didn’t approve of me, correct?” Gaara pointed a finger at himself.

“Well that’s true, but he’ll come around.”

“I doubt that,” Jiraiya scratched his head with a sigh.

“That’s rude,” Naruto pat Gaara’s hand, “Gaara is likable.”

“That’s not the problem,” Jiraiya chuckled to himself at the sheer confused admiration in Gaara’s face, “He didn’t accept me either but I’m not a rival.”

“Gaara’s not a rival either,” Naruto argued, “Are you?”

“No,” Gaara shook his head slowly and methodically, “I am already stronger than him. I have beaten him.”

Naruto scrunched up his eyebrows, never feeling quite so lost. But Jiraiya laughed boisterously, “Shikamaru would not like hearing that. Then again, maybe he’ll finally say something. He hasn’t asked you out yet has he?”

“Asked me out?”

“Nevermind,” Jiraiya shrugged, “I’ll let him tell you.”

\---

Shikamaru stared at the wooden door in front of him holding a bouquet, unsure of where to go from now. Reason dictated he knock on the door. But his body wasn’t moving. There was only so long he could stand there, not moving, staring at the door. And slowly, his fist raised up in a soft nock. And then he immediately regretted it and turned to leave. But it was too late, the door was open.

“Shikamaru,” Naruto clapped his hands together.

“Ah,” Shikamaru turned back around, rubbing his head sheepishly, “Sorry to come back here so soon.”

“You can come over whenever,” Naruto pursed his lips, “you know that.”

“Right well,” Shikamaru took a deep breath. He was just gonna say it, that was the easiest way to do it, rip off the bandage, just say it all once. Green eyes glared into him from within the house. Gaara hovered over the blond, arms crossed and frown in place. And Shikamaru faltered, “maybe some privacy would be nice?”

Naruto looked up at the other jinchuuriki before stepping out of the house and onto the small deck outside the apartment, closing the door behind him, barefoot on the cold stone, “what is it?”

“Sorry,” Shikamaru blurted out.

“For what?” Naruto frowned, “You’ve been acting strange.”

“Uh,” Shikamaru looked between the door and Naruto before glancing at the railing surrounding the balcony, _would it be a bad idea to jump?_ “It’s nothing,” Shikamaru shook his head quickly before sticking his arms out, straight and stiff, “for you.”

Naruto stared wide-eyed at the large bouquet of flowers, taking them gingerly.

“I know you have a lot of flowers already,” Shikamaru quickly withdrew his hands, “But um,” _but what?_

“Thank you,” Naruto held the flowers close to his chest, smiling softly.

Shikamaru looked away, “Sure,” it was a hardly audible mumble, “I thought it’d be appropriate because- because I wanted to ask you out. On a date.”

“A date?” Naruto didn’t quite understand what that entailed.

“A date.”

Naruto looked down at the blooming flowers in his arms, if Shikamaru was asking it wouldn’t be something bad, so he nodded, “I’ll go.”

Shikamaru let out a long sigh, shoulders slumping forward, “Then, in two days. I’ll pick you up. It’ll be semi-formal.” 

And he was gone before Naruto could ask any questions. Naruto turned back around, the door was open and Gaara was looking at him with a slight frown.

“I’m going on a date.”

“Yes,” Gaara nodded, “I heard.”

“Do you know what that means?”

“Possibly.”

Naruto blinked in surprise at the answer, his eyes drawing up to the tattooed kanji, _love_ , on Gaara’s forehead. But this time, looking at it made something in Naruto pang. And he wasn’t sure what it was, “Why do you have that? The tattoo?”

Gaara’s fingers pressed gently against his forehead with a certain amount of long lost nostalgia, “To remember that no one loves me,” admitted with too much ease

“Love?” Naruto mumbled to himself.

“Yes, my uncle said he loved me. Then he tried to kill me. Because he hated me.”

Naruto nodded along, understanding most of it. That must have been the curse for monsters like him and Gaara, born against the will of the heavens. But it still didn’t quite click, had anyone said that to him? That they loved him? Was that important? “Is love good?”

“Probably.”

Naruto bit his bottom lip, did he love someone? He wasn’t a parent or an uncle or anything like what Gaara described, “Did you love your uncle?”

Gaara’s eyes dropped to the ground and he seemed, at least partially, conflicted, “...Yes.”

So that left open the possibility that Naruto loved Tsunade and Jiraiya. They were the closest thing Naruto had to parents. But how was he supposed to tell?

Gaara pat his shoulder softly, “You're still standing outside.”

Naruto looked down at the grey concrete under his feet, “Right.”

\---

The next time Shikamaru knocked on Naruto’s door, the blond stepped out, fully dressed and ready. It was on the verge of sundown and the streets were left quieter and emptier. A cold breeze danced through the sky, sweeping blond strands around Naruto’s face. Shikamaru glanced at the hand swinging at Naruto’s side. It would probably be warm against the settling coolness. But was it really ok? Naruto wouldn’t mind but that didn’t mean he should take advantage-

“Where are we going?” Naruto poked at Shikamaru’s shoulder with a slight pout.

“Oh,” it took Shikamaru a second to process the question, he had been wandering almost aimlessly and Naruto was just following blindly, “A restaurant.”

“A restaurant? Just us?” It had been a while since they did that, since before the team formed.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru itched his neck, scanning the street, “that one,” he pointed with a thumb.

Naruto briskly took Shikamaru’s hand, pulling them into a faster pace. And Shikamaru just marveled, dragged behind the short blond, how easy it was for Naruto to do the things Shikamaru craved to. 

The restaurant was traditionally furnished with dim lights and a moderately packed dining room. They were placed at a small two-person table across from each other. Naruto’s eyes darted across the room, he felt out of place. The patrons were mostly adults wearing elegant yukatas or dresses. Naruto’s knit sweater is like little more than rags in comparison. Even Shikamaru’s prim button-up looked more appropriate. 

“You ok,” Shikamaru glanced up from the short menu.

“I think I don’t understand semi-formal.”

“Hm?” Shikamaru couldn’t stop the fond smile from forming, “you’re fine.”

“It’s just that semi-formal would imply halfway between formal and not formal but this looks very formal and,” Naruto tapped his finger against the table while looking at the ornate candle placed on their table, “and-”

“I told you,” Shikamaru assured, “It’s fine. You- you look cute.”

Naruto’s eyebrows scrunched together before his eyes widened, “Sorry,” Naruto furiously rubbed at his cheeks, trying to force his face to stop whatever it was doing, “I wasn’t trying anything.”

Shikamaru was torn between confusion and laughter, “You don’t have to try. You’re just cute.”

Naruto’s hands stopped, “That’s horrible!”

“Pft,” Shikamaru ducked his head behind the menu.

“I don’t want anything, I promise,” Naruto hurriedly bowed his head.

“You have to want something, this is a restaurant.”

Naruto lifted his head, mouth in a perfect “O”, and shook his head, “I do want something.”

Shikamaru mumbled a quiet “cute” again and Naruto stuffed his face into his hands.

“Tsunade taught me something evil,” Naruto’s voice was muffled behind his palms.

“Evil?” 

Naruto nodded, “She said it could make anyone do whatever I wanted.”

“Now I want to see it,” Shikamaru murmured around his water glass.

Naruto shook his head stubbornly, “I don’t wanna make you do anything.”

Shikamaru stifled a laugh in his hand, looking at the bowed blond head. And he got that urge again to see just how warm Naruto was. Shikamaru lifted his hand, moving to pat Naruto’s head. But his arm bumped the glass of water instead. Naruto snapped up again, hand catching the glass before it fell over completely. 

It didn’t change the fact that Shikamaru’s shirt was already splattered with water. Naruto stared wide-eyed, “Are you-”

“Fine,” Shikamaru stood immediately, “I’ll be right back,” his legs robotically carried him to the bathroom. It was empty, a huge relief. Shikamaru stopped in front of the wide mirror, hands gripping the marble sink. A long breath followed by a low groan. Shikamaru dropped his head, there was no way he was this bad at something. The bathroom door opened as Shikamaru grabbed a wad of paper towels to dry off the fading water stain.

A huff of laughter followed. Shikamaru’s glare hardened when he saw who it was standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” Shikamaru grumbled, going back to patting the shirt dry.

Shino raised an eyebrow, “I come here regularly with my cousin. A restaurant? Really? I suppose it’s better than your last attempt but it is rather predictable.”

“Shut it,” Shikamaru ignored the jabs.

“Another failure it sounds like?”

Shikamaru glared at Shino’s reflection in the mirror, “It’s going great.”

“Hard to believe, why? Because you don’t sound all too happy about it.”

Shikamaru straightened out his shirt, “I like spending any time with him so it’s going great. It just- he does things and he’s so- and,” Shikamaru opened and closed his hands as if trying to grasp something in the air, “I just want to- I don’t know,” Shikamaru sighed scowling at Shino, “You didn’t hear any of that.”

Shino raised his hands in a half defense, “I didn’t realize you loved our team meeting so much. It’s kind of gross actually.”

“Don’t worry,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes, throwing away the paper towels, “just seeing you makes me gag.”

“I am honored I have such an effect on you,” Shino smirked from behind the large collar. But Shikamaru was already out the door and walking to the table where Naruto sat, two plates of food sitting untouched.

Shikamaru sat quickly, “You could have started without me.”

“It’s fine,” Naruto shook his head, smoothing out the table cloth, “You took a while.”

Shikamaru grimaced and Naruto tipped his head in confusion.

“Just an annoying fly,” Shikamaru waved it away.

“A fly?” Naruto whispered to himself, it was such a clean establishment.

“Ah,” Shikamaru dropped his chopsticks, finally thinking of a way to pivot the conversation, “Asuma-sensei he’d work with you next week.”

“Why me?” Naruto focused intensely at getting a yakisoba noodle that kept slipping off his chopsticks.

Shikamaru shrugged, “Probably doesn’t want me relaxing the week before the tournament.”

Naruto paused in his losing food battle, peering up at Shikamaru, “You would win either way.”

Shikamaru propped his chin upon his hand, amused, “Are you sure? Those other genins looked troublesome.”

Naruto nodded slowly, “They are. But you’re still stronger.”

Shikamaru looked away, a blush creeping up his neck. “That’s not true at all.”

“But- but you're smart and always get us out of tough missions and protect everyone,” Naruto’s eyebrows scrunched up and he stared at Shikamaru with all the determination he could muster.

“No,” Shikamaru covered his mouth with his hand, “You work hard,” and if he hated admitting it, Shino did too.

“But you’ve been training too,” Naruto insisted, “And you're amazing when you don’t too. You’re amazing no matter what you do.”

Naruto wasn’t stepping down on this one and Shikamaru accepted it with a quiet _thanks._

\---

Naruto sat in the middle of a tiny clearing, encased by mile-high trees, writing quickly and efficiently in a small travel journal. Naruto lifted his head quickly, staring ahead for a few seconds before casting a look over his shoulder, “Hello Sensei.”

“Hey,” Asuma threw a casual salute at Naruto, “How’s your week been?”

“Good,” Naruto nodded, swishing his ink-soaked brush in a jar of water.

“Great. how’s training?”

“I've been training every day. Training Gaara takes between two to three hours some days so I have consolidated my meals and breaks to streamline my schedule.”

Asuma chuckled lightly, “No need to do all that, it’s good to have breaks and miss training some days.”

Naruto pivoted his head in confusion, Asuma-sensei always tells Shikamaru to put more importance on training, “I thought training was good.”

“It is,” Asuma cracked open a brand new pack of cigarettes, “But it’s just part of your job- being a ninja is your job, not your life. You need to find something outside of it to care about.”

Asuma took a seat next to Naruto, staring straight into the tree line, “Seen Shino or Shikamamaru around? Done anything with them?”

“I saw Shino,” Naruto informed, “But he said he was training with you.”

Asuma nodded, Shino had a tendency to overwork himself the way Naruto did.

“And I was with Shikamaru a few times”

“Really,” Asuma raised a lazy eyebrow. He hesitantly reached for Naruto’s journal, taking it when Naruto made no move to stop him, “What’d you do?”

“He taught me to play shogi.

Asuma nodded with a small smile, “Yeah sounds like him - this is really impressive,” Asuma paused on a sketch drawn on one of the pages. He never would have guessed Naruto would be good at art, “how’d you do?” 

“I lost,” Naruto continued to look forward, staring into the bark of a tree.

“Don’t worry about it much,” Asuma glanced at Naruto to observe his reaction. Unsurprisingly, there was none. Naruto didn’t seem like a sore loser but you never truly know someone until you play a board game with them, “You’re a smart kid, but Nara’s are specialists when it comes to tactics. You’re smart at different things.”

Naruto looked largely unchanged, but his head lowered slightly, eyes soft, “Thank you.”

The journal was a mix of notes on ideas and sketches. Asuma was having a hard time getting over how nice the handwriting was, “Good idea,” Asuma mumbled out quietly, reading the detailed idea for a new seal, “Now if only Shikamaru would train this week.”

“He is,” Naruto confirmed, “He told me he trained last week and will this week.”

Knowing Shikamaru, Asuma thought, he was complaining rather than explaining the process, “You're a good influence on him.”

Naruto pursed his lips slightly, “Shino is too.”

“Yes,” Asuma nodded slowly, “Shino - with their incredibly odd rivalry,” Asuma pinched his forehead, trying to understand how that happened, “-pushes Shikamaru to do better.”

“But you,” Asuma clapped a hand down on Naruto’s shoulder, “Give him something to strive for.”

“What does he strive for?”

Asuma let out a breathy laugh and scratched his head, “I don’t know if it’s my place to say.”

A small sigh escaped Naruto’s lips, “Everyone keeps saying that,” But Asuma-sensei didn’t want to say anything and Naruto would honor that.

Asuma ruffled Naruto’s hair, “It’s nothing you don’t already know. Shikamaru cares a lot about you but I shouldn’t be the one explaining his feelings.”

Naruto patted his hair down, trying to get rid of the static that was now causing his hair to stick up in every direction, “I know, he’s my number one.”

“Number one?”

Naruto nodded, not sure how else to say it. There wasn’t a word he knew for it, just the feeling that no matter what happened, Shikamaru came first.

“Well,” Asuma tapped his cigarette a few times, letting the loose ashes fall to the ground, “That makes things easier.”

Naruto tilted his head but he suspected this would be one of those things where Asuma wouldn’t be able to tell him. So he didn’t bother asking.

“Anyway, this week is about you,” Asuma mumbled around his cigarette, “Anything you want to work on?”

“Genjutsu,” Naruto ran his hands through the grass, taking care to ensure he didn’t snag and up-root any plants.

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Asuma rubbed his cigarette out on the dirt, “I’ll set you up with Kurenai sometime next week. But for now, I got an idea.”

Naruto blinked at Asuma owlishly.

“First, what do you know about Hyuugas?” Asuma stood up and helped Naruto do the same.

“The Byakugan,” Naruto patted off his shorts.

“Yeah,” Asuma smiled broadly, “Gives them the ability to see chakra, so genjutsu might be hard on him. I don’t know too much about it- Hyuugas get really finicky about keeping secrets- but they have some defense skills so he’ll be hard to touch. The taijutsu… well you don’t have tenketsu so I guess no need to worry about that aspect but their strikes can also cause internal bleeding and organ damage.”

Naruto looked down, processing the information, before nodding slowly, “It is unlikely to pass through my skin. If it does, I can heal quickly.”

“Good,” Asuma pet Naruto’s head, “But if you want to fight him, you’ll need a way to get past his defense, or at least avoid it. I know you can’t really use ninjutsu, but we both have wind chakra and if you’ve noticed, I don’t use many wind ninjutsu.”

Naruto nodded, “Enhancement.”

“Correct, so I’ll teach you how to enhance your speed with wind chakra and incorporate it into your taijutsu.”

Naruto frowned just the slightest bit, “Ok.”  
  
“Don’t worry too much,” Asuma clapped Naruto on the back and chuckled loudly, “It won’t have a lot of punching or anything. I’m a frontal assault guy and the hardest people to fight are the people you can’t hit. But instead of constantly dodging, you can use the enemy's strength against them.”

Naruto shifted into his usual taijutsu pose, he already usually dodged, even if the academy taijutsu wasn’t really meant for that. Asuma seamlessly corrected every kata.

\---

“Hey,” the next time Naruto opened the door for Shikamaru, he was resting against the wall next to his house. Naruto had to crane his head out of his apartment just to see him.

“You free? For the rest of the day?” Shikamaru grinned.

Asuma gave him the day off and Gaara hadn’t stopped by yet, so Naruto nodded.

“Cool cuz,” Shikamaru lifted up a basket that was hidden at his side, “I was thinking a picnic would be nice before I sign away my freedom.”

Naruto dipped back into his apartment, leaving the door open, “Asuma-sensei is a good teacher, he gives lots of breaks.”

“He’s a slave driver. You just have an unlimited amount of stamina.”

Naruto popped back out with a lidded glass pitcher, “What did you bring?”

“Sandwiches, mom made them so they’re edible.”

“Your food is edible,” Naruto placed the glass inside the basket, freshly made iced tea.

“Not to anyone except you. My parents wouldn’t eat that stuff.”

“I didn’t get sick. So it was edible.”

“Have you ever gotten sick?”

“No.”

“Thought so,” Shikamaru put his hands on Naruto’s shoulder, pushing him forward.

“Where are we going today?” Naruto tried to look back at Shikamaru.

“Don’t worry it's casual. Actually casual.”

“You’re not going to tell me?” 

Shikamaru gave a small smirk and Naruto gave up. More than ever, it felt like everyone was in on something he just couldn’t understand.

“Is this another date?”

“You catch on fast.”

“No, I still don’t get it,” Naruto lips drew into a straight line, “No ones been telling me anything lately.”

“We’re here,” Shikamaru stopped pushing on Naruto’s shoulder and they both came to a halt.

Naruto turned to face the flowering Sakura trees that towered above them from the hilltops, “Pretty.”

Shikamaru nodded, trying to be casual as he took Naruto’s hand, walking up the hill until the whole field opened up to rolling hills of Sakura trees centered around a large pond. Naruto stared down at it silently, his eyes shimmered and lips parted in subtle shock. People dotted the field, small groups having their own picnics.

“They’re hosting flower viewing ceremonies all week,” Shikamaru nudged his head toward an empty spot and Naruto followed numbly, continuing to just stare.

“It’s like you’ve never seen a cherry blossom before,” Shikamaru spread the blanket out over the grass before turning to Naruto with a single raised eyebrow, “You have seen them right?”

“Once,” Naruto whispered, “never so close. So many.”

Shikamaru smiled softly and pulled Naruto to sit with him. Naruto glanced up at the tree that blossomed over them, pink flowers spun in the breeze, one falling into Naruto’s hands. It was so delicate and beautiful and yet completely impermanent. All flowers were like that but somehow cherry blossoms were more tangibly so. Naruto tucked the flow behind his ear, so long as the tree remained, more blossoms would continue to bloom.

It was more silent than the restaurant and much fresher than his apartment. Naruto took a deep breath just because he could, because out here with Shikamaru, it felt like he could really breathe. The wind only carried their soft words and the pink-colored flowers. It almost felt like the academy again, but it was better now because Shikamaru was holding his hand. 

“You’ll figure it out,” Shikamaru blurted out while shoving stray napkins into the basket his mother had given him. The sky was growing darker and the sun dipped lower. 

Naruto tore his eyes away from the sun's reflection, dancing on the pink lit pond, “figure what out?”

“No one’s been telling you anything. But you’ll figure it out.”

Naruto drew his knees in, resting his chin on top, “I don’t understand feelings well. I don’t know what people are talking about a lot of the time.”

“But you still feel things,” Shikamaru tried to help, but he wasn’t sure if it was more of a reassurance for Naruto or himself.

Naruto lifted his head again, looking at the color streaked sky, and a flower plopped down right onto his nose, “What if I don’t feel strongly? I can’t put any of it into words and I can't express any of it. physically either”

Shikamaru stayed silent, just watching as Naruto’s numb eyes stared off into the sky. He couldn’t say anything.

“I can’t understand anyone else because I don’t know what my feelings are called.”

It was a confession and Shikamaru knew it was a plea for help. But hearing that made something deep in him shatter.

“But you still feel things for others, you always care for others- you feel something between- between…” Shikamaru looked down at their intertwined hands, it was real, _right?_

Naruto frowned in confusion.

“You feel something for me, right?” Shikamaru gripped that hand tighter.

Naruto’s eyes widened and he rushed out a fast, “Yes!” but recoiled at the unwavering stare Shikamaru kept locked onto him, “you’re being weird again Shika.”

“Do you hate it?” 

“No- but, why the change?”

Shikamaru shrugged but it was hard under the absolutely crushing feeling on his shoulders, and the hand holding Naruto went limp, “It’s natural, to change.”

Naruto shut his eyelids as tightly as he could because he _knew_ that, but it didn’t mean everything had to change, “But we’ll still be a team.”

Shikamaru looked down at the red blanket, his hand pulling away from Naruto to scratch his hair, “Probably, but when we become chunin we’ll be put on different missions.”

That’s not what he meant, Naruto bit down on his tongue, “But we’ll still be together. We’ll be friends.

Shikamaru stayed quiet, finally sighing, “I don’t think I want to be just friends.”

Blue eyes snapped open, glittering with tears that fell open, “What?”

Shikamaru blinked, his mind slowly catching up to just how bad that sounded, “Wait-”

Naruto stood, trying his best to keep looking at Shikamaru through the tears, “Why?”

“No, I meant-” Shikamaru scrambled onto his feet, “I meant more-”

“More?”

Shikamaru stretched his arm out, “Yes- well,” but it recoiled quickly, he just couldn’t tell him. Shikamaru couldn’t do it. And now that Naruto was standing in front of him, crying, it felt more like taking advantage of him than ever before.

“What do you want?” Naruto was pleading.

“I-” he couldn’t do it, “I…”

Naruto stood in that silence, trying to blink away the tears but they just kept falling and he wasn't sure what to do. Shikamaru wasn’t moving and Naruto really just wanted the tears to stop so he could get a moment of clarity. So he ran, away from Shikamaru and the busy night markets and away from the glaring starlight.

Shikamaru squatted down, groaning deeply into his arms. It was easy to forget after being around Naruto for so long, but sometimes Shikamaru really hated himself. He packed up the blanket and whatever was left out. There was no point in staying in the flower field alone. But this wasn’t how he planned on leaving, alone and cold.

Sometimes he really hated himself.

“Flower viewing ceremony? Not too bad but cliche.”

Shikamaru didn’t bother sparing a glance at Shino, just stumbling forward, “what are you doing here.”

“I come to the ceremony every year with my family.”

Shikamaru mumbled a quiet, “Right.”

“I do not find that unbelievable,” Shino huffed.

Shikamaru glanced at the other boy quickly, “Do you actually go to Naruto’s house that often?”

“Yes.”

“And the restaurant?”

“An occasional visit, pure coincidence.”

“Whatever,” Shikamaru stuffed his hand in his pocket, “I’m not in the mood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for taking so long on this, it was a hard chapter for me to write. For one, it was probably the longest single chapter I have written. Also, I'm an ace, so even though I love reading romance it's pretty tough to write. So for people asking for a ShikaNaruShino, I'm sorry I just don't think I could pull that off.
> 
> Sorry if there are more mistakes than usual, I didn't get to proofread this one as much and I don't have a beta so it may have come out a bit rough. I usually don't love reading miscommunication drama but it seemed like it made sense for the characters, so here I am writing it anyway.
> 
> But I hope you enjoyed reading this one, see you next time!


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